Author Description

Objectives. To assess neighborhood income-related disparities in preterm birth (PB), low birthweight (LBW), full-term small-for-gestational-age (FT-SGA), and mean birthweight, and their changes over time. Design. A study population of 234,782 singletons born to mothers residing in the City of Toronto in the fiscal years 1993/94-2000/01 was extracted from CIHI hospital records. A cross-sectional design was employed to compare outcomes across census-derived income quintiles, and time-trend analyses to detect changes over time. Methods. Multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used to control for infant and maternal characteristics. Results. Adjusted Odds Ratios (95% CI) for the poorest compared to the richest (reference) quintile were 1.17 (1.07-1.29) for PB, 1.37 (1.25-1.51) for LBW, 1.46 (1.29-1.65) for FT-SGA, and 88 (95-80) grams lighter average birthweight. These health disparities did not change significantly over time. Conclusion. Moderate socioeconomic disparities in these four birth outcomes persisted with similar magnitude in Toronto over the study period.