Title |
Mother's education and the risk of preterm and small for gestational age birth: a DRIVERS meta-analysis of 12 European cohorts
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Published in |
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, April 2015
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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. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Netherlands | 2 | 15% |
Spain | 2 | 15% |
United States | 1 | 8% |
Czechia | 1 | 8% |
Unknown | 7 | 54% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 7 | 54% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 23% |
Scientists | 2 | 15% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 8% |
Mendeley readers
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% |