Groundbreaking Surgo Health Study Published in The Lancet is First to Link U.S. Maternal Health Outcomes to Community-Level Vulnerabilities

Data reveals even Black mothers living in the least vulnerable communities are at significantly higher risk of poor outcomes compared to White mothers living in the most disadvantaged areas

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Surgo Health, a new healthcare technology company dedicated to personalized healthcare, today announced that a study conducted using data from its national Maternal Vulnerability Index (US MVI) was published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.

The peer-reviewed study “Black-White disparities in maternal vulnerability and adverse pregnancy outcomes: an ecological population study in the United States,” is the first to link real-world data on maternal mortality rates across the U.S. with maternal health specific contextual, clinical, and social determinants of health (SDOH) at the county level to explore how various risk factors in each community correlate with different birth outcomes.

“This is the first time anyone has quantified disparities in exposure to determinants of adverse health across the United States specifically for maternal health outcomes, nationwide, at a granular geographic level–and considered how multi-dimensional exposure contributes to the well-established racial disparities in maternal health outcomes,” said Dr. Sema Sgaier, Chief Executive Officer of Surgo Health and a co-author of the study.

The analysis confirmed marked geographic and racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to maternal vulnerability. More specifically, women living in the south, women living in rural America, and Black women are exposed to higher vulnerability than other groups. The research also showed pockets of high vulnerability within states that are largely low vulnerability, with drivers of vulnerability differing greatly by geography.

Among the most notable findings: Black women living in the least vulnerable areas were more likely to die, have a preterm birth, or have a baby with low birth weight compared to White mothers living under the most vulnerable conditions. For example, Black women in the least susceptible areas are 44% more likely to have a newborn with low birth weight than White mothers in the most vulnerable areas. The striking gap between the two groups can not be fully explained by factors captured in the MVI, including physical health, access to care, environment, and SDOH.

“The findings suggest the root causes of racial inequities are complex, and that in addition to factors captured in our index, other strong social and societal factors are at play. These might include unconscious bias on the part of providers, attitudes, and beliefs among patients, and hyperlocal disparities in access to care. We need to dig deeper to determine what forces are causing these shocking disparities in outcomes,” said Sgaier.

Surgo Health’s groundbreaking study comes amid growing recognition of the country’s maternal health crisis. In March 2023, data released by the National Center for Health Statistics showed that maternal mortality rates in the U.S. rose 40% to 1,205 in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019, pushing the maternal mortality rate to its highest level since 1965. Furthermore, the data showed a mortality rate among Black women that was 2.6 times as much as the rate for white women in 2021. Previously, in June 2022, the White House released a Maternal Health Blueprint for addressing the Maternal Health crisis, highlighting the need to address “social and economic forces” driving health inequity for pregnant women to improve maternal outcomes.

The Maternal Vulnerability Index (MVI) is a first-of-its-kind tool that can be used to examine racial disparities in drivers of maternal vulnerability to shed light on potential high-impact interventions to improve maternal health and maternal health equity. The index ranks US counties and states in terms of vulnerability to poor pregnancy outcomes, offering each geography a relative maternal vulnerability score on a scale of 0-100. The scores are based on data and analytics for 43 indicators contributing to maternal health outcomes, including reproductive and general healthcare, physical and mental health, substance abuse, socioeconomic determinants, and the physical environment.

For this study, researchers linked the MVI to 13 million live births, comparing the vulnerability scores with maternal mortality rates, preterm birth, and low birth weight for mothers in every county. The data included all mothers of Non-Hispanic Black or African American or Non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity), aged 10-44 at the time of the event, who resided and gave birth to a live baby or suffered a maternal death.

Surgo Health has continued to improve the MVI, pushing the data and scores down to the ZIP code and census tract level to account for hyperlocal vulnerability. This granularity will prove critical as partners begin to implement solutions using the MVI.

Surgo Health recently launched as a public benefits company (PBC) and is developing a revolutionary socio-behavioral analytics platform and generating novel, real-world data designed to inform and improve health equity and outcomes by enabling a greater understanding of the complex factors that influence how individuals engage in their healthcare.

This is the first peer-reviewed study published by the newly formed organization.

To learn more about Surgo Health, visit: www.surgohealth.com

About Surgo Health
Surgo Health is a technology company and Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) aiming to revolutionize the effectiveness of healthcare by understanding people’s behavior at the individual level. Surgo Health believes that a complete understanding of what drives people’s behavior – and how their context impacts them – is critical to ensure every person lives a healthy life. The company delivers a novel real-world data platform to create the most comprehensive socio-behavioral profile of every person in every place, with products and solutions that can help its customers drive performance while improving outcomes, reducing cost and addressing inequities across the healthcare ecosystem. To learn more, visit https://www.surgohealth.com/.

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SOURCE Surgo Health