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Mother's education and the risk of preterm and small for gestational age birth: a DRIVERS meta-analysis of 12 European cohorts

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, April 2015
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Title
Mother's education and the risk of preterm and small for gestational age birth: a DRIVERS meta-analysis of 12 European cohorts
Published in
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, April 2015
DOI 10.1136/jech-2014-205387
Pubmed ID
Authors

Milagros Ruiz, Peter Goldblatt, Joana Morrison, Lubomír Kukla, Jan Švancara, Marjo Riitta-Järvelin, Anja Taanila, Marie-Josèphe Saurel-Cubizolles, Sandrine Lioret, Chryssa Bakoula, Alexandra Veltsista, Daniela Porta, Francesco Forastiere, Manon van Eijsden, Tanja G M Vrijkotte, Merete Eggesbø, Richard A White, Henrique Barros, Sofia Correia, Martine Vrijheid, Maties Torrent, Marisa Rebagliato, Isabel Larrañaga, Johnny Ludvigsson, Åshild Olsen Faresjö, Daniel Hryhorczuk, Youriy Antipkin, Michael Marmot, Hynek Pikhart

Abstract

A healthy start to life is a major priority in efforts to reduce health inequalities across Europe, with important implications for the health of future generations. There is limited combined evidence on inequalities in health among newborns across a range of European countries. Prospective cohort data of 75 296 newborns from 12 European countries were used. Maternal education, preterm and small for gestational age births were determined at baseline along with covariate data. Regression models were estimated within each cohort and meta-analyses were conducted to compare and measure heterogeneity between cohorts. Mother's education was linked to an appreciable risk of preterm and small for gestational age (SGA) births across 12 European countries. The excess risk of preterm births associated with low maternal education was 1.48 (1.29 to 1.69) and 1.84 (0.99 to 2.69) in relative and absolute terms (Relative/Slope Index of Inequality, RII/SII) for all cohorts combined. Similar effects were found for SGA births, but absolute inequalities were greater, with an SII score of 3.64 (1.74 to 5.54). Inequalities at birth were strong in the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden and Spain and marginal in other countries studied. This study highlights the value of comparative cohort analysis to better understand the relationship between maternal education and markers of fetal growth in different settings across Europe.

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The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 257 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Ethiopia 1 <1%
Unknown 256 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 30 12%
Student > Ph. D. Student 27 11%
Student > Bachelor 27 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 22 9%
Researcher 22 9%
Other 49 19%
Unknown 80 31%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 79 31%
Nursing and Health Professions 29 11%
Social Sciences 16 6%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 8 3%
Psychology 7 3%
Other 23 9%
Unknown 95 37%