Religiosity, Telomere Length and Preterm Birth Among Mexican and African American Women in Texas

We conducted a cross sectional study of 175 pregnant women (100 Mexican and 75 African American women) recruited from three prenatal clinics in Central and East Texas. This study explored the relationships between religiosity, telomere length, and preterm birth. Results indicated a significant association between telomere length and birth outcomes, with shorter telomeres observed in preterm births compared to full-term births. Mexican women attended religious activities more frequently, while African American women tended to rely on religious or spiritual beliefs to address daily challenges. Mediation analysis revealed that more frequent religious service attendance showed an association with lower preterm birth risk via telomere length on the risk-difference scale of 0.03 (95% CI 0.001 to 0.079; P = 0.04) when comparing women who never attend with those who attend every week or more. Higher self-reported religiosity showed an association with lower preterm birth risk independent of telomere length on the risk-difference scale of 0.17 (95% CI 0.036 to 0.309; P = 0.02) when comparing women who are not religious at all with those who are very religious. Future research is needed to investigate the complex interactions among these factors using longitudinal designs and larger sample sizes, to inform the development of effective strategies for preventing preterm birth.