Abstract

The social vulnerability index (SVI) measures a community’s vulnerability to external stressors on health and is composed of four themes. Higher community-level SVI has been associated with adverse maternal outcomes. We evaluated the association between SVI and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. Retrospective cohort study of all patients delivering >22 weeks gestational age at our institution (2014-2018). Patients with only a PO box address, multiple gestations, or known fetal anomalies were excluded. Patient addresses were used to assign each individual a community-level composite SVI score and a score for each theme. The primary outcome was NICU admission. We compared mean composite SVI scores (95% CIs) and for each theme; individual components of each theme were also compared between those with and without NICU admissions. From 2014-2018, 13,757 patients were included for analysis. Overall, 2837 (21%) had a neonate with a NICU admission. Patients with the highest SVI scores were more likely to be obese, not non-Hispanic white, and use tobacco (p< 0.001) compared to those with lower SVI scores. Patients whose neonates had NICU admissions had higher overall and individual theme mean SVI scores, with the exception of Theme 3: minority status/language (Table). Those requiring NICU admission had lower per capita income, were less likely to have a high school diploma, more likely to live with people who are disabled or ≥ 65 years of age, or live in mobile homes or households with more people and were less likely to have minority/non-English speakers in the home compared to those without NICU admission (Table, p< 0.001). Patients who deliver a neonate requiring NICU admission have higher mean SVI scores both overall and from a variety of social themes including household composition, housing type, and SES. Targeted prenatal care strategies in these patients and increasing social support may improve perinatal outcomes.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call