Public health reports
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Public health reports · Sep 2008
Comparative StudyPlace matters: variation in the black/white very preterm birth rate across U.S. metropolitan areas, 2002-2004.
We reported on the distribution of very preterm (VPT) birth rates by race across metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). ⋯ Compared with white women, black women have three times the mean VPT birth risk, as well as three times the variance in city-level rates. The racial disparity in VPT birth rates was composed of characteristics that were constant across MSAs, as well as factors that varied by MSA. The increased sensitivity to place for black women was unexplained by measured maternal and metropolitan factors. Understanding determinants of differences in both the mean risk and the variation of risk among black and white women may contribute to reducing the disparity in risk between races.