Chang YK, et al. - Researchers examined the National Health Insurance Research (NHIR) database provided by the Taiwan National Health Research Institute in order to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of and associated factors contributing to preterm birth in Taiwan. Inclusion of a total of 130,362 live births from 2004 to 2013 was done in this study. An increase in the overall proportion of preterm births was observed from 2004 to 2013 in Taiwan. Overall, the average annual rate of preterm births raised by 5.3% (from 3.33% in 2004 to 5.11% in 2013). A higher risk of developing morbidities and mortalities was observed for babies born preterm. Per multiple logistic regression analyses, an increased risk of preterm birth was observed in positive correlation with nulliparous women, multifetal pregnancies, advanced mother age, history of preterm birth, history of maternal drug abuse/dependence, and maternal medical complications.