Objective: To examine the relationship of individual and composite number of unmet basic needs (housing, energy, food, and healthcare hardships) in the past year with preterm birth status among children aged 0-24 months.
Study design: We examined cross-sectional 2011-18 data of 17,926 families with children aged 0-24 months. We examined children born <31 weeks', 31-33 weeks', and 34-36 weeks' gestation versus term (≥37 weeks) using multivariable multinomial logistic regression.
Results: At least 1 unmet basic need occurred among ≥60% of families with preterm children, compared to 56% of families with term children (p = 0.007). Compared to term, children born ≤30 weeks' had increased odds of healthcare hardships (aOR 1.28 [1.04, 1.56]) and children born 34-36 weeks' had increased odds of 1 (aOR 1.19 [1.05, 1.35]) and ≥2 unmet needs (aOR 1.15 [1.01, 1.31]).
Conclusion: Unmet basic needs were more common among families with preterm, compared to term children.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.