Social determinants of health on maternal mortality outcomes in the Southern United States
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
The United States (US) spends the most money on healthcare but has one of the highest maternal mortality rates out of all high-income countries. Maternal mortality rate is an indicator of the overall health of a society and social determinants of health play a major part in determining the health of an individual by examining the environment and conditions that they grow up in. Studies have been done in the US that examine the overall relation of social determinants of health (SDOH) to maternal mortality. However, no review focuses specifically on the Southern states and social determinants of maternal mortality. A rapid evidence assessment was done that collated articles found in PubMed regarding social determinants on maternal mortality in the U.S. South. The major findings were that the social determinants of race, insurance type, and income had the most statistically significant associations with maternal mortality rates. Additionally, only five states out of 16 southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Florida) had articles on SDOH on maternal mortality. These findings identify large gaps in research for the other states that did not have any literature and provide a call to action for an in-depth look into the effects race, insurance, and income have on maternal mortality in the US South.
Description
2024
License
Attribution 4.0 International