SynthesisEpidemiologic reviews2009
What causes racial disparities in very preterm birth? A biosocial perspective.
Synthesis in Epidemiologic reviews, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 119 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of how social connectedness influences associations between racism and discrimination on health outcomes.Epidemiologic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Measures of Racism and Discrimination in Preterm Birth Studies.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of DNA Methylation and Preterm Birth in African American Women.Biological research for nursing · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The social determinants of infant mortality and birth outcomes in Western developed nations: a cross-country systematic review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2013Pooled it
- Chronic rhinosinusitis, race, and ethnicity.American journal of rhinology & allergyPooled it
- Naming Institutionalized Racism in the Public Health Literature: A Systematic Literature Review.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a combined home visiting and group intervention for low income African American mothers: the pride in parenting program.Maternal and child health journal · 2011Trial
- Physical Activity During Pregnancy, Dietary Adequacy, and Energy-Dense, Nutrient-Poor Food and Beverage Intake: Associations with Preterm Birth.Nutrients · 2026Article
- The Role of Maternal Depression in Racial Disparities and Birth Weight.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Postpartum severe maternal morbidity: A longitudinal analysis of the association with economic segregation and neighborhood deprivation in Georgia, USA 2016-2022.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Article
- Joint Modeling of Birth Outcomes Using a Copula Distributional Regression Approach.Health economics · 2026Article
- Disparities in Patterns of Preterm and Early Term Second Births Among Non-Hispanic Black and White Mothers.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Article
- Neighborhood evictions, household children, and preterm birth among Black birthing people.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Distributions of Adverse Childbearing Experiences Across Racial and Ethnic Groups: A Research Note.Demography · 2025Article
- National Variation in Black Immigrant Preterm Births and the Role of County-Level Social Factors.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Observational
- Spectrum of Cervical Insufficiency: Management Strategies from Asymptomatic Shortening to Emergent Membrane Prolapse.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- The Mediating Role of Social and Environmental Determinants of Health in the Association Between Race and Preterm Birth Risk.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2025Article
- Immigration, acculturation, and diabetes: A comparative study of diabetes prevalence among Asian Indian immigrants living in the United States and native-born populations in India and the United States.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Testing Very Preterm Black Children to Examine Potential Assessment Bias in Two Language Tests.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groups · 2025Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Very preterm birth (<32 weeks' gestation) occurs in approximately 2% of livebirths but is a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity in the United States. African-American women have a 2-fold to 3-fold elevated risk compared with non-Hispanic white women for reasons that are incompletely understood. This paper reviews the evidence for the biologic and social patterning of very preterm birth, with attention to leading hypotheses regarding the etiology of the racial disparity. A systematic review of the literature in the MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and EMBASE indices was conducted. The literature to date suggests a complex, multifactorial causal framework for understanding racial disparities in very preterm birth, with maternal inflammatory, vascular, or neuroendocrine dysfunction as proximal pathways and maternal exposure to stress, racial differences in preconceptional health, and genetic, epigenetic, and gene-environment interactions as more distal mediators. Interpersonal and institutionalized racism are mechanisms that may drive racially patterned differences. Current literature is limited in that research on social determinants and biologic processes of prematurity has been generally disconnected. Improved etiologic understanding and the potential for effective intervention may come with better integration of these research approaches.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.