Population-level factors associated with maternal mortality in the United States, 1997–2012

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Factors associate with maternal mortality at the state level, in initial regression analyses – United States, 1997–2012

State-Level Variable	Regression Coefficient	95% CI	P value
Proportion of births to women with chronic hypertension	+ 3.82	[2.99–4.65]	<.001
Proportion of births to women over 40 years of age	+ 1.82	[0.90–2.74]	<.001
Proportion of births to women with diabetes	+ 1.24	[0.94–1.53]	<.001
Proportion of births to women with pregnancy-related hypertension	+ 0.98	[0.49–1.47]	<.001
Proportion of women of childbearing age with self-reported health status of “Fair” or “Poor”	+ 0.53	[0.37–0.69]	<.001
Proportion of women of childbearing age with BMI ≥ 30	+ 0.38	[0.30–0.45]	<.001
Proportion of births by cesarean delivery	+ 0.35	[0.27–0.42]	<.001
Proportion of women of childbearing age not having completed high school/GED	+ 0.31	[0.18–0.45]	<.001
Proportion of births to African American women	+ 0.25	[0.19–0.32]	<.001
Median household income, in thousands	+ 0.21	[0.15–0.28]	<.001
Proportion of births to Hispanic women	+ 0.17	[0.08–0.27]	<.001
Uninsurance rate among women of childbearing age	+ 0.14	[0.04–0.24]	.007
Proportion of births to women who attended fewer than 10 prenatal visits	+ 0.12	[0.05–0.19]	.001
Proportion of women of childbearing age reporting alcohol consumption in previous 30 days	+ 0.09	[0.02–0.16]	.01
Proportion of women of childbearing age who are current smokers	−0.18	[− 0.27 – − 0.08]	<.001

All analyses are adjusted for adoption of the 2003 Revision of the U.S. Standard Certificate of Death. All linear regression models were specified as multilevel mixed-effects, with calendar year as level 1 and state as level 2. BMI: Body Mass Index; GED: General Equivalency Diploma

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