The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on All-Cause Maternal Mortality: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study
2020
Wonjeong Jeong | Sung-In Jang | Eun-Cheol Park | Jin Young Nam
Improving maternal health is one of the 13 targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3: consequently, preventing maternal death, which usually occurs in women&rsquo:s prime productive years, is an important issue that needs to be addressed immediately. This study examines the association between socioeconomic status and all-cause maternal mortality in South Korea and provides evidence of preventable risk factors for maternal death. For this population-based retrospective cohort study, data on 3,334,663 nulliparous women were extracted from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database between 2003 and 2018. The outcome variables were all-cause maternal mortality within six weeks and a year after childbirth. A log-binomial regression model determined the association between maternal mortality and income-level adjusted covariates. Women with lower income levels had higher risk of maternal death within six weeks (risk ratio (RR) = 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.65&ndash:3.53) and within one year (RR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.47&ndash:2.28), especially those who were aged 35&ndash:39 years, lived in rural areas, delivered via cesarean section, and had maternal comorbidities. The study identifies a significant relationship between South Korean primiparas&rsquo: socioeconomic status and maternal death within six weeks or one year after childbirth, suggesting interventions to alleviate the risk of maternal death.
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