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. 2011 May 25;11:39. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-11-39

Table 1.

Maternal and Infant Characteristics Among Singletons and Twins Born at 24 Weeks of Gestation or Later, United States, 1995-96 and 2004-05

Maternal characteristics* Singletons Twins

1995-96 2004-05 Odds ratio (95%CI) 1995-96 2004-05 Odds ratio (95%CI)
No. of women 6,359,866 6,122,022 82,639 101,572
Age (years) <20 13.3 10.6 0.77 (0.77-0.77) 7.24 5.14 0.70 (0.68-0.71)
   20-24 24.8 25.8 1.06 (1.05-1.06) 19.6 18.0 0.90 (0.89-0.92)
   25-29 27.5 27.4 0.99 (0.99-1.00) 27.7 26.1 0.92 (0.91-0.92)
   30-34 23.0 22.7 0.98 (0.98-0.99) 28.9 29.1 1.01 (1.00-1.03)
   35-39 9.72 11.0 1.15 (1.15-1.15) 14.2 16.9 1.23 (1.20-1.25)
   40+ 1.73 2.45 1.43 (1.42-1.44) 2.44 4.73 1.98 (1.91-2.06)
Race: Non-Hispanic white 66.2 58.9 0.73 (0.73-0.73) 69.2 65.5 0.84 (0.83-0.85)
  African American 16.5 15.4 0.93 (0.92-0.93) 18.1 16.8 0.91 (0.90-0.93)
  Hispanic 13.3 20.2 1.64 (1.64-1.65) 9.81 13.4 1.42 (1.39-1.45)
  Other 4.04 5.56 1.40 (1.39-1.41) 2.89 4.31 1.51 (1.46-1.57)
Maternal education <12 years 20.8 20.6 0.98 (0.98-0.98) 15.3 13.6 0.84 (0.83-0.86)
Smoking during pregnancy 13.8 11.1 0.78 (0.78-0.78) 12.4 9.00 0.70 (0.68-0.71)
Unmarried 32.4 36.8 1.22 (1.21-1.22) 27.9 28.6 1.03 (1.02-1.05)
No prior live births 42.3 40.4 0.93 (0.92-0.93) 21.9 22.4 1.02 (1.01-1.04)
Infant sex (male) 51.2 51.2 1.00 (1.00-1.00) 49.9 50.2 1.01 (1.00-1.02)
Congenital anomalies (yes) 1.59 1.17 0.74 (0.73-0.74) 2.44 1.66 0.69 (0.66-0.72)
Gestational age-specific
 Stillbirths: 24-27 wks 13.4 11.6 0.85 (0.81-0.90) 6.16 4.66 0.74 (0.64-0.87)
   28-31 7.78 6.91 0.88 (0.84-0.92) 3.10 1.89 0.60 (0.51-0.70)
   32-33 4.19 3.51 0.83 (0.78-0.88) 1.26 0.59 0.47 (0.37-0.59)
   34-36 1.21 0.95 0.78 (0.74-0.81) 0.51 0.28 0.54 (0.45-0.63)
   > = 37 0.13 0.11 0.81 (0.79-0.84) 0.24 0.15 0.61 (0.49-0.76)
   All 0.34 0.30 0.88 (0.86-0.89) 0.80 0.51 0.64 (0.59-0.69)
 Neonatal deaths: 24-27 wks 18.5 16.4 0.87 (0.83-0.91) 23.0 18.5 0.76 (0.69-0.83)
   28-31 4.11 3.69 0.89 (0.84-0.95) 3.03 2.54 0.83 (0.72-0.97)
   32-33 1.89 1.63 0.88 (0.80-0.96) 0.71 0.62 0.86 (0.66-1.12)
   34-36 0.61 0.50 0.81 (0.77-0.87) 0.39 0.25 0.65 (0.53-0.78)
   > = 37 0.10 0.08 0.76 (0.73-0.79) 0.20 0.11 0.55 (0.43-0.72)
   All 0.24 0.21 0.87 (0.85-0.89) 1.17 1.95 0.80 (0.75-0.86)

*Women with missing information excluded: 5-8% for smoking status and 1-5% for congenital anomalies. All proportions based on live births except for stillbirth rates which were based on total births.

All differences in maternal/infant characteristics between 1995-96 and 2004-05 were statistically significant (P < 0.05) except for the differences in infant sex and the proportion of twin births at 32-33 weeks of gestation.