Abstract
Illinois vital records for 1982/1983 and US census income data for 1980 were analyzed to ascertain the relationship of income incongruity, race, and very low birthweight. Positive income incongruity was considered present when study infants resided in wealthier neighborhoods than non-Latino Whites at the same level of parental education attainment and marital status. The odds ratios of very low birthweight for African Americans (n = 44,266) and Whites (n = 27,139) who experienced positive income incongruity were 0.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.5, 0.9) and 0.6 (95% CI = 0.5, 0.9), respectively. Positive income incongruity is associated with lower race-specific rates of very low birthweight.
