Table 1.

Baseline characteristics by treatment group

Characteristic	Betamethasone (N=1429)	Placebo (N=1402)
Indication for trial entry
Preterm labor with intact membranes	400 (28.0)	392 (28.0)
Ruptured membranes	316 (22.1)	304 (21.7)
Expected delivery for gestational hypertension/preeclampsia	370 (25.9)	385 (27.5)
Expected delivery for fetal growth restriction	46(3.2)	48 (3.4)
Expected delivery for oligohydramnios	50 (3.5)	42 (3.0)
Expected delivery for other indications	247 (17.3)	231 (16.5)
Gestational age at trial entry
≤ 34 weeks	369 (25.8)	399 (28.5)
35 weeks	571 (40.0)	532 (38.0)
≥36 weeks	489 (34.2)	471 (33.6)
Maternal age, years*	27.8 ± 6.1	28.6 ± 6.3
Race
Black or African American	376 (26.3)	381 (27.2)
White	828 (57.9)	800 (57.1)
Asian	57 (4.0)	39 (2.8)
Other/unknown/more than one race	168(11.8)	182 (13.0)
Ethnicity
Hispanic/Latina**	448 (32.1)	405 (28.4)
Not Hispanic/Latina	949 (67.9)	1021 (71.6)
Nulliparous	448 (49.5)	457 (50.5)
Smoking during current pregnancy	204 (14.3)	186 (13.3)
Preeclampsia/gestational hypertension	433(30.3)	440 (31.4)
Gestational diabetes	153 (10.7)	153 (10.9)

Data expressed as N (%) or mean ± SD

^*P=0.001

^**P=0.03