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. 2024 Jan 5:10.1007/s40615-023-01901-1.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01901-1. Online ahead of print.

Examination of Social Determinants of Health Characteristics Influencing Maternal Postpartum Symptom Experiences

Jihye Kim Scroggins  1   2 , Qing Yang  3 , Kristin P Tully  4 , Karin Reuter-Rice  3   5 , Debra Brandon  3   5
Affiliations

Examination of Social Determinants of Health Characteristics Influencing Maternal Postpartum Symptom Experiences

Jihye Kim Scroggins et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. .

Abstract

Postpartum women experience multiple, co-occurring postpartum symptoms. It is unknown if social determinants of health (SDOH) influence postpartum symptom typologies. This secondary analysis used the Community and Child Health Network study data. Participants included for analysis varied depending on the availability of the SDOH data (N = 851 to 1784). Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between SDOH and previously identified postpartum symptom typologies. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) was calculated to examine if adding SDOH variables contributes to predicting postpartum symptom typologies. The adjusted odds (aOR) of being in high symptom severity or occurrence typologies were greater for participants who had less than high school education (aOR = 2.29), experienced healthcare discrimination (aOR = 2.21), used governmental aid (aOR = 2.11), or were food insecure (aOR = 2.04). AUROC improved after adding SDOH. Considering experiences of different social-economic hardships influence postpartum symptom typologies, future practice and research should address SDOH to improve postpartum symptom experiences.

Keywords: Depression; Postpartum period; Psychological distress; Social determinants of health; Symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest: Dr. Tully is one of the inventors of a patented medical device. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill technology is licensed. The device is not referenced or otherwise related to the content of this manuscript. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.

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