Table 1. Demographic and clinical data for the three study groups.
GC group (PTL and GCs) n=30 | Matched controls (no PTL or GCs) n=60 | PTL controls (PTL and no GCs) n=15 | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|
GA PTL diagnosed (weeks) | 29.7 (0.6)a | NA | 29.2 (0.9) | 0.73 |
Gestational age at birth (weeks) | 38.0 (0.2) | 38.3 (0.1) | 38.6 (0.2) | 0.10 |
Sex (F, M) | 20, 10 | 40, 20 | 10, 5 | |
5-min Apgar | 9.0 (0.2) | 8.9 (0.2) | 9.1 (0.2) | 0.29 |
Mode of delivery | 53% vaginal | 58% vaginal | 60% vaginal | 0.74 |
Parity | ||||
1 | 27% | 28% | 40% | 0.18 |
2 | 37% | 37% | 33% | |
⩾3 | 36% | 35% | 27% | |
Race | ||||
Hispanic | 70% | 50% | 47% | 0.07 |
Caucasian | 17% | 30% | 40% | |
Other | 13% | 19% | 12% | |
Maternal age at delivery (years) | 28.9 (0.7) | 28.7 (1.1) | 31.5 (2.0) | 0.30 |
GA at first prenatal visit (weeks) | 12.8 (0.9) | 10.8 (1.1) | 10.6 (0.5) | 0.34 |
Insurance type | ||||
Commercial HMO | 23% | 17% | 23% | 0.11 |
Commercial PPO | 19% | 10% | 28% | |
Government sponsored | 50% | 73% | 43% | |
Other | 8% | 0% | 6% |
Abbreviations: F, female; GA, gestational age; GC, glucocorticoid; HMO, Health Maintenance Organization; M, male; NA, not-applicable; PPO, Preferred Provider Organization and PTL, preterm labor.
Note: Group differences were assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables and χ2 for categorical variables.
Preterm labor was the primary indication for GCs in 87% of these participants.