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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population by maternal age groups (N = 8509)

From: Birth outcomes across the spectrum of maternal age: dissecting aging effect versus confounding by social and medical determinants

Maternal Characteristics

< 20 years

20–29 years

30–39 years

40+ years

Total

P-valuea

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

Total

907

100

4305

100

2960

100

337

100

8509

100

Sociodemographic

 Race/ethnicity

< 0.001

  Blackb

488

53.8

2073

48.2

1613

54.5

219

65.0

4393

51.6

 

  Non-Black

419

46.2

2232

51.8

1347

45.5

118

35.0

4116

48.4

 

 Parity

< 0.001

  Nulliparous

760

83.8

2103

48.9

751

25.4

49

14.5

3663

43.0

 

  Multiparous

147

16.2

2202

51.1

2209

74.6

288

85.5

4846

57.0

 

 Education (n = 8349)

< 0.001

   < College

813

91.3

2733

64.9

1658

56.9

219

66.0

5423

65.0

 

   ≥ College

77

8.7

1479

35.1

1257

43.1

113

34.0

2926

35.0

 

 Marital Status (n = 8340)

< 0.001

  Not married

842

94.8

2984

70.8

1473

50.7

170

51.5

5469

65.6

 

  Married

46

5.2

1232

29.2

1433

49.3

160

48.5

2871

34.4

 

 Public assistancec (n = 8378)

0.580

  No

157

17.5

813

19.2

572

19.6

63

18.9

1605

19.2

 

  Yes

738

82.5

3423

80.8

2341

80.4

271

81.1

6773

80.8

 

 Yearly Income in US$ (n = 7616)

< 0.001

   ≥ $30,000

18

2.3

470

12.1

547

20.7

59

19.2

1094

14.4

 

   < $30,000

321

40.1

1861

48.1

1167

44.2

138

44.8

3487

45.8

 

  Don’t know

461

57.6

1538

39.8

925

35.1

111

36.0

3035

39.9

 

 Place of birth (n = 8310)

< 0.001

  Not US born

309

34.7

2400

57.0

2096

72.8

270

81.3

5075

61.1

 

  US born

581

65.3

1809

43.0

783

27.2

62

18.7

3235

38.9

 

Biomedical

 Body Mass Index (n = 7930)

< 0.001

   < 19

97

11.3

324

8.1

109

3.9

6

1.9

536

6.8

 

  19–24

467

54.4

1899

47.5

1147

41.5

118

37.9

3631

45.8

 

  25–29

197

22.9

1003

25.1

853

30.9

103

33.1

2156

27.2

 

   ≥ 30

98

11.4

770

19.3

655

23.7

84

27.0

1607

20.3

 

 Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (n = 8498)

< 0.001

  No

810

89.3

3830

89.1

2519

85.2

272

80.7

7431

87.4

 

  Yes

97

10.7

467

10.9

438

14.8

65

19.3

1067

12.6

 

 Pregestational/gestational diabetes (n = 8500)

< 0.001

  No

876

96.7

3957

92.1

2524

85.3

260

77.2

7617

89.6

 

  Yes

30

3.3

340

7.9

436

14.7

77

22.8

883

10.4

 

Behavioral

 Father of baby support (n = 7829)

< 0.001

  None/Little

201

24.3

634

16.1

383

14.0

55

17.6

1273

16.3

 

  Some

278

33.6

1474

37.3

993

36.3

126

40.4

2871

36.7

 

  Excellent

349

42.1

1842

46.6

1363

49.8

131

42.0

3685

47.1

 

 Family support (n = 7917)

0.014

  None/Little

47

5.6

301

7.5

215

7.7

30

9.3

593

7.5

 

  Some

368

44.2

1786

44.8

1225

44.1

167

51.9

3546

44.8

 

  Excellent

418

50.2

1900

47.7

1335

48.1

125

38.8

3778

47.7

 

 Major stressful events in pregnancy

0.030

  No

663

75.8

3136

75.5

2262

79.1

256

79.3

6317

76.9

 

  Yes

212

24.2

1017

24.5

598

20.9

67

20.7

1894

23.1

 

 Smoking cigarettes (n = 8441)

< 0.001

  Never

717

79.3

3321

77.8

2478

84.4

289

87.0

6805

80.6

 

  Ever

187

20.7

949

22.2

457

15.6

43

13.0

1636

19.4

 

 Drinking alcohol (n = 8201)

0.606

  Never

798

91.3

3747

90.6

2630

91.5

290

90.6

7465

91.0

 

  Ever

76

8.7

387

9.4

243

8.5

30

9.4

736

9.0

 

 Multivitamin supplement intake at least 3 times a week throughout pregnancy (n = 7496)

< 0.001

  No

273

34.3

1050

27.7

587

22.4

71

24.5

1981

26.4

 

  Yes

524

65.7

2742

72.3

2030

77.6

219

75.5

5515

73.6

 
  1. a p-value from chi square tests of association; b Maternal self-report as Black, African American, Haitian or Cape Verdian;c receipt of public assistance including: WIC (Women Infants and Children), Food Stamps, AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Housing assistance or Fuel assistance