The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #70454

Jon M. Hussey, PhD, MPH, Department of Maternal and Child Health and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, CB# 7445 Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, 919-966-3779, jon_hussey@unc.edu

While many studies have examined proximate determinants of birth outcomes, much less is known about the impact of more distal health insults experienced months or years before pregnancy. Identification of earlier risk factors, however, could yield important etiological insights and suggest new interventions. In this paper we focus on adolescent precursors of birth outcomes in young women. Our dependent variables are gestational age and birth weight, two important indicators of reproductive health and infant mortality risk. Our independent variables include measures of adolescent health status, adolescent health risk behaviors, and adolescent neighborhood contexts. The three specific aims of the study are to 1) identify adolescent risk factors associated with subsequent birth outcomes; 2) determine if adolescent risk factors can account for variation in birth outcomes not otherwise explained by proximate determinants; and 3) examine the relationship between adolescent risk factors and racial/ethnic disparities in gestational age and birth weight. The analysis uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), which includes a nationally representative sample of over 15,000 individuals first interviewed in 1994-95 while in grades 7-12 with follow-up interviews in 1996 and 2001-2. The Wave III interview includes prenatal care and pregnancy outcome measures on all births to female respondents, now ages 18-26, which took place during the previous five-years.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss theories linking adolescent health to later birth outcomes.
• List adolescent risk factors correlated with later birth outcomes. 3.Articulate evidence linking adolescent health to disparities in birth outcomes

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Birth Outcomes

Related Web page: www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/

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.