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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ronna L. Chan, MPH and Elizabeth Eustis-Turf, PhD. Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory, Virginia Commonwealth University, PO Box 843065, Richmond, VA 23284-3065, 804.827.4218, rlchan@hsc.vcu.edu
Research shows that certain maternal behaviors and experiences during the periconceptional and prenatal periods are associated with low-birth weight, infant morbidity and infant mortality.1-6 In an effort to identify risky maternal behaviors, Healthy Start Initiatives personnel funded a study to implement the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in an urban center of Virginia.
This study consisted of two phases of data collection using the PRAMS Phase IV Questionnaire. Phase I included in-hospital interviews conducted soon after infant delivery in an effort to improve the response rate in this urban population. Phase II included telephone follow-up surveys two to four months after Phase I. Mothers’ data were linked with birth certificate records for analysis.
One hundred and fifty-four women completed the in-hospital interview (94% response rate); one hundred and four answered the telephone survey (65% response rate). Results showed 12.3% of infants were low-birth weight, 86.4% were African-Americans, 72.7% of mothers were on Medicaid or had no insurance, 79.9% were unmarried, and 66.9% pregnancies were unintended. Further regression analyses will focus on domestic violence, preventive health counseling, postpartum-depression and poor infant health outcomes. This information will be used by Healthy Start personnel to identify service needs for women and to plan and review programs aimed at at-risk populations.
Learning Objectives:
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.