231500 Social epidemiology of preterm birth

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 10:35 AM - 10:50 AM

Michelle A. Williams, ScD, SM, MS , Department of Epidemiology, University of Washingto, Seattle, WA
     
A number of socio-cultural and social-environmental factors are associated with an increased risk for preterm birth. These include individual-level factors such as young or advanced maternal age, marital status, educational attainment, income status, and exposure to physical violence and racism. Increasingly, newer studies are documenting important associations of neighborhood level social-environmental factors, including patterns of residential segregation, violence as important determinants of preterm birth. This talk will (1) describe socio-cultural and social-environmental factors associated with risk of preterm birth; (2) identify potential mechanisms that underlie associations between socio-cultural and social-environmental determinants of preterm birth; and (3) summarize relevant analytical epidemiological studies of social determinants of preterm birth.

Learning Areas:
Basic medical science applied in public health
Epidemiology
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe socio-cultural and social-environmental factors associated with risk of preterm birth Identify potential mechanisms that underlie associations between socio-cultural and social-environmental determinants of preterm birth Summarize relevant analytical epidemiological studies of social determinants of preterm birth

Keywords: Epidemiology, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract author because I have authored more than 220 original manuscripts. Dr. Williams is a tenured Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. She is also Co-Director of the Center for Perinatal Studies at Swedish Medical Center, a multidisciplinary research program involving clinical scholars, basic scientists and epidemiologists. Her research program focuses on integrating genomic sciences and epidemiological research methods to identify risk factors, diagnostic markers, treatments and prevention targets for disorders that contribute to maternal and infant mortality.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4110.0: Preterm Birth and Social Justice