(118) Does the geographic area of origin affect the risk of preterm birth among Italian immigrants?

We conducted a population-based cohort study including all single births of Italians and immigrants without authorization women aged 15-55 years at 22-42 gestational weeks between 2016-2021 using the administrative databases of the Lombardy region, Italy. We evaluated the risk of PTB (births at < 37 GWs) among different geographic areas of origin, considering Italians as the referent group using logistic regression analysis. Models were adjusted for the socio-demographic characteristics of the women.

Results:

Among the 412,396 in the cohort, 71% were of Italian nationality, followed by other European regions (10%), Middle East (8%), America (3%), South-East Asia (3%), Asia (2%), Africa (2%), and Stateless (0.7%). Compared to deliveries of Italian women, those from most other countries, even if with access to National Health Care system had an excess risk of PTB ranging from 55% to 27% for Stateless and Africa/Americas, respectively.

Conclusion: Equal access to the National Health care system allowed attainment of PTB rates similar to Italian women only for Other European areas, Middle East and Asian origin, whereas for the majority of immigrants rates of PTB remained significantly higher