THURSDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- The longer Hispanic women
live in the United States, the more likely they are to have a
preterm birth, a new study says.
Researchers analyzed data from 2,141 Hispanic women with a prior
live birth who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey 1999-2006.
The study found that the frequency of preterm birth was 3.4
percent for women who had lived in the United States for less than
10 years, 7.4 percent for those who'd lived in the United States
for more than 10 years, and 10 percent for those who were born in
the United States.
The risk of preterm birth among the women in the study did not
appear to be related to a number of preterm birth risk factors that
were investigated in the study, the researchers noted.
They said their findings support the theory that preterm birth
is, at least in part, related to environmental factors that are
potentially preventable. However, it's still not clear which
specific environmental factors increase or decrease the chances of
preterm birth, the researchers said.
The study was slated to be presented Thursday at a meeting of
the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting in
Dallas.
Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data
and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in
a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development has more about
preterm labor and birth.