Maternal mortality rates in the United States correlated with social determinants of health

Maternal mortality rates (MMRs) are valuable benchmarks for measuring the quality of a nation’s healthcare and social outcomes. Variable MMRs within a country often reflect disparities in social determinants such as income, access to healthcare, and education. In this study, we hypothesized that race, income, education, and health insurance access correlate with MMRs within the United States (US). We utilized retrospective data from the National Vital Statistics System and Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the period 2018-2022 to compute US state-level MMR by race. US Census Bureau state-level data from the American Community Survey provided information on median household income, college education, and health insurance coverage by race. In addition, we used regression analyses to understand the association between MMRs and these factors. Per our analysis, race, median income, and healthcare uninsured rates had a statistically significant relationship with MMRs, while education level was not statistically related with MMRs after adjusting for other factors. MMRs decreased by 1.04% for every $1K increase in median annual income and increased by
2.00% for every 1 percentage point increase in uninsured rate, regardless of race. Additionally, MMRs in the Black population were 1.99 times that of the White population, while MMRs in the Hispanic population were 0.66 times that of White population after adjusting for differences in median income and the uninsured rate. More research is needed to better understand the effect of various social
determinants on maternal mortality in the United States. Disparities in maternal mortality continue to exist within the US and multi-faceted efforts are required to ensure better maternal health outcomes for all.