For a study, it was determined that the influence of poor cardiovascular health (CVH) and socioeconomic determinants of health (SDOH) on maternal morbidity and mortality was significant. Therefore, researchers sought to determine a link between SDOH and poor CVH in pregnant women in the United States. The National Health Interview Survey (2013–2017) provided cross-sectional data on pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years. Based on the existence of 0 to 1 and more than or equal to 2 risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, current smoking, obesity, and insufficient physical activity), researchers determined optimal and suboptimal CVH. Researchers grouped 38 elements into quartiles and computed an aggregate SDOH score representing 38 variables from 6 domains (economic stability; neighborhood, physical environment, social cohesiveness; community and social context; food; education; and healthcare system). Researchers employed a Poisson regression model to assess the relationship between SDOH and poor CVH and risk variables. Furthermore, 1,433 pregnant women (28.8±5.5 years, 13% non-Hispanic Black) were involved in the research. Overall, 38.4% (95% CI: 33.9–43.0) of the ones in the 4th SDOH quartile had poor CVH, compared with 51.7% (95% CI: 47.0–56.3) of the ones in the 3rd SDOH quartile. When comparing in the 4th SDOH quartile to the ones in the first quartile, the risk ratios for suboptimal CVH, smoking, obesity, and insufficient physical activity were 2.05 (95% CI, 1.46–2.88), 8.37 (95% CI, 3.00–23.43), 1.54 (95% CI, 1.17–2.03), and 1.19 (95% CI, 1.01–1.42), respectively. Over half of pregnant women with the highest SDOH burden had inadequate CVH, underlining the public health importance of renewed measures to improve modifiable risk factors, particularly smoking and insufficient physical activity, in socially disadvantaged pregnant women.
Link:www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.022837
