The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49392

Catherine Cubbin, PhD¹, Paula Braveman, MD, MPH¹, Kristen S. Marchi, MPH¹, Gilberto Chavez, MD, MPH², John S Santelli, MD, MPH³, and Brenda Colley Gilbert, PhD, MSPH³. (1) Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, MU-3 East, Box 0900, San Francisco, CA 94143-0900, 415-476-6620, ccubbin@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) Maternal and Child Health Branch, California Department of Health Services, 714 P Street, Room 476, Sacramento, CA 95814, (3) Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Mailstop K20, Atlanta, GA 30341

Objectives: To describe and explain social disparities in unintended pregnancy in California and to interpret the likely policy implications of our findings. Methods: We will use data from the 1999 and 2000 Maternal and Infant Health Assessment, an annual, cross-sectional, statewide- representative postpartum survey of the maternal population in California (total N=7,044), linked with birth certificates. We will describe disparities in unintended, unwanted, and uninteded-and-unwanted pregnancy based on several different socioeconomic factors and race/ethnicity. We next will examine unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models to examine how the observed socioeconomic and racial/ethnic associations vary based on which covariates are included in a model, such as: insurance coverage, regular source of care, age, parity, language, marital status, sense of control, health behaviors, and domestic violence. We also will examine the prevalence of reported barriers to use of birth control among women with unintended pregnancies who were not using birth control at the time they conceived. We will interpret the policy implications of the results of the quantitative analyses in light of existing knowledge of major policies in health and other sectors around the time of data collection. We hope that this study will contribute to increased awareness of the magnitude of social disparities in those outcomes, as well as a better understanding of the explanatory factors and policy implications of those disparities.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe and explain social disparities in unintended pregnancy
• Interpret the policy implications of social disparities in unintended pregnancy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.