Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

Alexa A. Freedman; Andrew V. Papachristos; Britney P. Smart; Lauren S. Keenan-Devlin; Sadiya S. Khan; Ann Borders; Kiarri N. Kershaw; Gregory E. Miller

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abl5417

Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

Alexa A. Freedman^*, Andrew V. Papachristos, Britney P. Smart, Lauren S. Keenan-Devlin, Sadiya S. Khan, Ann Borders, Kiarri N. Kershaw, Gregory E. Miller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

There are substantial, unexplained racial disparities in women’s health. Some of the most pronounced involve elevated rates of preterm delivery (PTD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Black women. We hypothesized that stress associated with excessive use of force by police may contribute to these disparities. In two prospective cohorts derived from electronic health records (pregnancy cohort, N= 67,976; CVD cohort, N= 6773), we linked formal complaints of excessive police force in patients’ neighborhoods with health outcomes. Exposed Black women were 1.19 times as likely to experience PTD [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04 to 1.35] and 1.42 times as likely to develop CVD (95% CI: 1.12 to 1.79), even after adjustment for neighborhood disadvantage and homicide. The excess risks of PTD were also observed in maternal fixed-effects analyses comparing births to the same woman. These findings suggest police violence may be an unrecognized contributor to health inequity for Black women.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	eabl5417
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	8
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl5417
State	Published - Jan 2022

Funding

NIH grant F32HD100076 (to A.A.F.), NIH grant R01MD011749 (to A.B. and G.E.M.), NIH grant P50 DA051361 (to G.E.M.), and NIH grant UL1TR001422. This work has been supported (in part) by Grant # 1908-18023 from the Russell Sage Foundation. Any opinions expressed are those of the principal investigator(s) alone and should not be construed as representing the opinions of the Foundation.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1126/sciadv.abl5417

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abstract = "There are substantial, unexplained racial disparities in women{\textquoteright}s health. Some of the most pronounced involve elevated rates of preterm delivery (PTD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Black women. We hypothesized that stress associated with excessive use of force by police may contribute to these disparities. In two prospective cohorts derived from electronic health records (pregnancy cohort, N= 67,976; CVD cohort, N= 6773), we linked formal complaints of excessive police force in patients{\textquoteright} neighborhoods with health outcomes. Exposed Black women were 1.19 times as likely to experience PTD [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04 to 1.35] and 1.42 times as likely to develop CVD (95% CI: 1.12 to 1.79), even after adjustment for neighborhood disadvantage and homicide. The excess risks of PTD were also observed in maternal fixed-effects analyses comparing births to the same woman. These findings suggest police violence may be an unrecognized contributor to health inequity for Black women.",

author = "Freedman, {Alexa A.} and Papachristos, {Andrew V.} and Smart, {Britney P.} and Keenan-Devlin, {Lauren S.} and Khan, {Sadiya S.} and Ann Borders and Kershaw, {Kiarri N.} and Miller, {Gregory E.}",

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AU - Khan, Sadiya S.

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Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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