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DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AND PRETERM BIRTHS AMONG NATIVES AND IMMIGRANTS IN GREECE: AN ANALYSIS USING NATIONWIDE VITAL REGISTRATION MICRO-DATA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2010

CLEON TSIMBOS  and
GEORGIA VERROPOULOU
CLEON TSIMBOS
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics & Insurance Science, University of Piraeus, Greece
GEORGIA VERROPOULOU
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics & Insurance Science, University of Piraeus, Greece Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
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Summary

The present study makes use of nationwide individual-level vital registration data on the single live births occurring in Greece in 2006 to explore associations of socio-demographic factors with adverse pregnancy outcomes, using multinomial logistic regression models. The findings indicate that important risk factors associated with low birth weight preterm and intra-uterine growth retarded births (IUGR) include female sex, primiparity, age of mother over 35, illegitimacy and prior history of stillbirths, infant and child deaths. These constitute risk factors for normal weight preterm births as well, though associations with sex and primiparity in this case point to the opposite direction. Residing in large metropolitan areas is related to a greater risk of an IUGR birth. Among Greek women, educational attainment has a protective effect while housewife status is linked to higher chances of an IUGR birth. For immigrant mothers however, the opposite holds. The study also shows that normal weight preterm births form a distinct group.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 271 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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