Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on January 4, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwj053
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
163/5/459    most recent
kwj053v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Simhan, H. N.
Right arrow Articles by Bodnar, L. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Simhan, H. N.
Right arrow Articles by Bodnar, L. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
Received June 1, 2005
Accepted September 19, 2005

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Prepregnancy Body Mass Index, Vaginal Inflammation, and the Racial Disparity in Preterm Birth

Hyagriv N. Simhan 1 * and Lisa M. Bodnar 2

1 Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
2 Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Hyagriv N. Simhan, E-mail: hsimhan{at}mail.magee.edu


  Abstract

The authors sought to quantify the overall and race/ethnic-specific relations between prepregnancy body mass index and both preterm birth and vaginal inflammation. Data from a cohort of 11,392 women who enrolled in the multicenter Vaginal Infections and Prematurity Study (1984-1989) at 23-26 weeks' gestation were used. Compared with a prepregnancy body mass index of 22, a body mass index of 16 increased the risk of preterm birth by 90% (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5, 2.6), and a body mass index of 18 increased the risk by 40% (odds ratio = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.7). Ethnicity substantially modified the magnitude of the body mass index effect and the shape of the preterm birth risk curve, with underweight having a greater impact on preterm birth among Blacks and Hispanics than among Whites. Low body mass index increased the risk of a high level of neutrophils (>5 per oil immersion field) and a high vaginal pH measurement (≥5.0) among Black women; for a body mass index of 16 versus 22, the odds ratio = 1.7 (95% CI: 1.1, 2.6). Compared with Black women with a body mass index of 22, Blacks with a body mass index of 16 had a 1.7-fold increased risk for a high level of neutrophils and a high vaginal pH measurement, while those with a body mass index of 18 had a 1.3-fold increased risk.

Keywords: African continental ancestry group; body mass index; European continental ancestry group; Hispanic Americans; inflammation; pregnancy; premature birth; vagina.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am J EpidemiolHome page
J. M. Catov, L. M. Bodnar, R. B. Ness, N. Markovic, and J. M. Roberts
Association of Periconceptional Multivitamin Use and Risk of Preterm or Small-for-Gestational-Age Births
Am. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2007; 166(3): 296 - 303.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.