1. Residential mobility of pregnant women and implications for assessment of spatially-varying environmental exposures.
- Author
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Bell ML, Banerjee G, and Pereira G
- Subjects
- Adult, Black or African American statistics & numerical data, Cohort Studies, Connecticut, Female, Hispanic or Latino statistics & numerical data, Humans, Massachusetts, Population Dynamics statistics & numerical data, Pregnancy, Regression Analysis, Socioeconomic Factors, Spatial Analysis, White People statistics & numerical data, Young Adult, Environmental Exposure, Human Migration statistics & numerical data, Pregnant Women
- Abstract
Health studies on spatially-varying exposures (e.g., air pollution) during pregnancy often estimate exposure using residence at birth, disregarding residential mobility. We investigated moving patterns in pregnant women (n = 10,116) in linked cohorts focused on Connecticut and Massachusetts, U.S., 1988-2008. Moving patterns were assessed by race/ethnicity, age, marital status, education, working status, population density, parity, income, and season of birth. In this population, 11.6% of women moved during pregnancy. Movers were more likely to be younger, unmarried, and living in urban areas with no previous children. Among movers, multiple moves were more likely for racial/ethnic minority, younger, less educated, unmarried, and lower income women. Most moves occurred later in pregnancy, with 87.4% of first moves in the second or third trimester, although not all cohort subjects enrolled in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Distance between first and second residence had a median value of 5.2 km (interquartile range 11.3 km, average 57.8 km, range 0.0-4277 km). Women moving larger distances were more likely to be white, older, married, and work during pregnancy. Findings indicate that residential mobility may impact studies of spatially-varying exposure during pregnancy and health and that subpopulations vary in probability of moving, and timing and distance of moves.
- Published
- 2018
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