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. 2023 Jun:60:152193.
doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2023.152193. Epub 2023 Mar 22.

Racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes among women with rheumatic diseases: A systematic literature review

Gloria Shen  1 , Maya Swaminathan  2 , Irvin Huang  2 , Diana Louden  3 , Dominique Feterman  2 , Muhammad Waqas Tahir  4 , Namrata Singh  5
Affiliations

Racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes among women with rheumatic diseases: A systematic literature review

Gloria Shen et al. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: There is a limited understanding of racial disparities in adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO) among women with rheumatic diseases. The aim of our study was to conduct a systematic literature review to evaluate the impact of race on APO in women with rheumatic diseases.

Methods: Databases were searched to find reports of APO stratified by race among women with rheumatic diseases. The initial searches were conducted in July 2020 and updated in March 2021. Of the final included articles, the full text was reviewed, and data was extracted from each study using a standard data abstraction form.

Results: Ten studies with a total of 39,720 patients met our eligibility criteria. There was a greater propensity for APO in racial minorities with rheumatic diseases compared to their White counterparts. Among women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Black women had the highest odds of APOs, particularly those with a concomitant diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome. Pooled meta-analysis could not be done due to multiple factors, including heterogeneity between studies.

Conclusion: Racial minorities with rheumatic diseases are more prone to APO compared to their White counterparts. One limitation is the lack of standardized criteria for APO, which prohibited direct comparison between studies. There is also a paucity of data looking at APOs among women with rheumatic diseases other than SLE. Further research is needed to explore the drivers of these racial disparities to guide targeted solutions for those in the greatest need.

Keywords: Preterm birth; Racial disparities; Rheumatoid arthritis; Systemic lupus erythematosus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA Flow Diagram showing study selection process
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Conceptual framework explaining potential factors driving adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with rheumatic diseases
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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