Rural-Urban Differences in Maternal Mortality Trends in the United States, 1999-2017: Accounting for the Impact of the Pregnancy Status Checkbox.

ABSTRACT: It has been difficult to measure rural-urban differences in maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) in the United States in recent years because of the incremental adoption of a pregnancy status checkbox on the standard US death certificate. Using 1999-2017 mortality and birth data, we examined the impact of the pregnancy checkbox on MMRs according to urbanicity of residence (large urban area, medium/small urban area, or rural area), using log-binomial regression models to predict trends that would have been observed if all states had adopted the checkbox as of 1999. Implementation of the checkbox resulted in an average estimated increase of 7.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.3, 8.8) in large urban areas (a 76% increase), 11.6 (95% CI: 9.6, 13.6) in mediu

SUBMITTER: Rossen LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9177508 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature