Table 1.
Parental demographics, maternal risk factors, neonatal characteristics and institutional setting of births distributed by maternal ethnicity in Taiwan, 2006-2007*
| Characteristics‡ | Taiwanese, n = 349,730 | Chinese, n = 19,866 | Vietnamese, n = 22,650 | Total, n = 392,246 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Parental characteristics | ||||
| Maternal age | ||||
| <20 | 9,303 (2.7) | 7 (0.0) | 2,080 (9.2) | 11390(2.9) |
| 20-35 | 298,825 (85.4) | 18,491 (93.1) | 20,246 (89.4) | 337,562(86.1) |
| >35 | 41,602 (11.9) | 1,368 (6.9) | 324 (1.4) | 43,294(11.0) |
| Paternal age (y/o) | ||||
| <25 | 21,893 (6.8) | 166 (0.8) | 211 (0.9) | 22,270 (6.1) |
| 25-35 | 214,519 (66.3) | 7,795 (39.6) | 7,601 (33.9) | 229,915 (62.8) |
| >35 | 87,313 (27.0) | 11,724 (59.6) | 14,602 (65.1) | 113,639 (31.1) |
| Single | 26,002 (7.4%) | 179 (0.9%) | 236 (1.0%) | 26,417 (6.7%) |
| History of cesarean | 51,948(14.9%) | 1.995(10.0%) | 1,537(6.8%) | 55480(14.1%) |
| Length of gestation | ||||
| Preterm | 25,521(7.3) | 839(4.2) | 1287(5.7) | 27,647(7.0) |
| Term | 323,451(92.5) | 18923(95.3) | 21,241(93.8) | 363,615(92.7) |
| Prolonged | 758(0.2) | 104(0.5) | 122(0.5) | 984(0.3) |
| Gestational age (wks), | 38.4 ± 1.6 | 38.8 ± 1.4 | 38.6 ± 1.5 | 38.4 ± 1.6 |
| Urbanization | ||||
| Urban | 256,860 (73.4) | 13,753 (69.2) | 12,824 (56.6) | 283,437 (72.3) |
| Suburban | 53,324 (15.2) | 3,094 (15.6) | 4,699 (20.7) | 61,117 (15.6) |
| Rural | 39,546 (11.3) | 3,019 (15.2) | 5,127 (22.6) | 47,692 (12.2) |
| Neonatal characteristics | ||||
| Male | 182,829(52.3) | 10,392(52.3) | 11,806(52.1) | 205,027(52.3) |
| Birth weight <1SD | 44,280(12.7) | 1,463(7.4) | 2,607(11.5) | 48,350(12.3) |
| Birth weight intermediate | 259,670(74.2) | 14,530(73.1) | 17,408(76.9) | 291,608(74.3) |
| Birth weight >1SD | 45,780(13.1) | 3,873(19.5) | 2,635(11.6) | 52,288(13.3) |
| Maternal medical complications | ||||
| Diabetes | 2659(0.8) | 55(0.3) | 19(0.1) | 2733(0.7) |
| Hypertension | 4099(1.2) | 72(0.4) | 55(0.2) | 4226(1.1) |
| Major obstetric complications | 29627(8.5) | 1233(6.2) | 1197(5.3) | 32057((8.2) |
| Institutional setting | ||||
| Clinic | 111,776 (32.0) | 7,186 (36.2) | 10,290 (45.4) | 129,252 (33.0) |
| Hospital | 237,954 (68.0) | 12,680 (63.8) | 12,360 (54.6) | 262,994 (67.0) |
*Data received from the Taiwan Bureau of Health Promotion
†Differences between Taiwanese and immigrant women are significant for gestational age, P < 0.01
‡Differences between Taiwanese and immigrant women (chi-square tests) are significant for all variables (maternal age, paternal age, marriage, hypertension, diabetes, major obstetric complications, length of gestation, urbanization residence, birth weight) at a p < 0.01, except male gender with P = 0.90)