Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39722432›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association2025

Ambulatory care utilization in the first 24 months' postpartum by rurality and pregnancy-related conditions: A prospective cohort study from Maine.

Sydney M Bebus, Kristin Palmsten, Heather S Lipkind, Christina M Ackerman-Banks, Katherine A Ahrens

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Article in The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sydney M BebusMuskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, USA.
Kristin PalmstenPregnancy and Child Health Research Center, HealthPartners Institute, Bloomington, Maine, USA.
Heather S LipkindDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
Christina M Ackerman-BanksDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Katherine A AhrensMuskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5139-9208

Funding

Maternal Health Care Utilization and Morbidity: The First 24 MonthsR15HD101793 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE · PI AHRENS, KATHERINE · 2021 to 2021
$409k
NICHD NIH HHS R15 HD101793NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo estimate the rate of ambulatory care use among postpartum persons by rurality of residence and pregnancy-related conditions.

methodsWe used Maine Health Data Organization's All Payer Claims Data for persons who delivered between 2007 and 2019 (N = 121,905). We estimated rates of ambulatory care (nonemergency department outpatient health care) utilization during the first 24 months' postpartum by level of rurality (urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural) and by pregnancy-related conditions (prenatal depression, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and gestational diabetes). To estimate rate ratios (RR), we used Poisson regression with an offset for population at risk, adjusting for potential confounders and restricting the analysis to those with continuous insurance (n = 70,431).

findingsThe mean monthly rate per 100 deliveries of ambulatory care visits was 86.1; the median number of visits was 12 (interquartile range = 6, 25). Persons living in rural areas had lower monthly rates of visits than persons living in urban areas (adjusted RR ranged from 0.87 [95% CI: 0.85, 0.89] in isolated rural areas to 0.91 [95% CI: 0.90, 0.93] in large rural areas). Persons with prenatal depression (aRR = 2.07; 95% CI: 2.04, 2.11), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (aRR = 1.07; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.10), and gestational diabetes (aRR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.14) had higher rates of visits than those without these conditions.

conclusionsNew practices and policies may be needed to improve postpartum ambulatory care access and utilization in rural areas. Postpartum persons with pregnancy-related conditions are accessing ambulatory care at higher rates after delivery, which may reduce their need for acute health care use.

Indexed as

Ambulatory CareRural PopulationAdultCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMainePatient Acceptance of Health CarePostpartum PeriodPregnancyPregnancy ComplicationsProspective Studiesgestational diabeteshypertensive disorders of pregnancyoutpatientprenatal depressionrural

Identifiers

PMID39722432
PMCPMC12270079

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