Abstract
BackgroundStudies suggest Pacific Islander women have disparate rates of preterm birth, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and low birthweight infants. However, data is limited. In order to improve the health of Pacific Islanders, it is essential to better understand differences in obstetric outcomes in this diverse populationMethodsThis study compared perinatal outcomes between Pacific Islander (9,646) and White (n = 5,510) women who delivered a singleton liveborn in any Hawaii hospital from January 2010 to December 2011 using the Hawaii Health Information Corporation (HHIC) database. Pacific Islanders were disaggregated into the following groups: Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Micronesian, and Other Pacific Islanders. Perinatal outcomes (e.g. hypertensive diseases, birthweight, mode of delivery) were compared using multivariable logistic models controlling for relevant sociodemographic and health risk factors (e.g. age and payer type).ResultsSignificant differences in perinatal outcomes between Pacific Islander and White women and newborns were noted. All Pacific Islander groups had an increased risk of hypertension. Outcome differences were also seen between Pacific Islanders groups. Native Hawaiians had the highest risk of low birthweight infants, Samoans had the highest risk of macrosomic infants and Micronesians had the highest risk of cesarean delivery.ConclusionsImportant differences in perinatal outcomes among Pacific Islanders exist. It is important to examine Pacific Islander populations separately in future research, public health interventions, and policy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-015-0671-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Studies suggest Pacific Islander women have disparate rates of preterm birth, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and low birthweight infants
Pacific Islanders, including Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Micronesians, comprise an important and rapidly increasing proportion of the United States (US) population [1]. These groups are adversely affected by socioeconomic disparities that are known to result in a higher risk of adverse obstetric outcomes [2,3,4]
Studies in both the US and New Zealand suggest that Pacific Islander women have disparate rates of preterm birth, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational
Summary
Studies suggest Pacific Islander women have disparate rates of preterm birth, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and low birthweight infants. Pacific Islanders, including Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Micronesians, comprise an important and rapidly increasing proportion of the United States (US) population [1]. These groups are adversely affected by socioeconomic disparities that are known to result in a higher risk of adverse obstetric outcomes [2,3,4]. Studies in both the US and New Zealand suggest that Pacific Islander women have disparate rates of preterm birth, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational. We selected common outcomes with well-established morbidity including diabetes, hypertension, cesarean delivery, and birthweight. [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
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