Validity of the Spanish surname infant mortality rate as a health status indicator for the Mexican American population.

Abstract

This study assessed the validity of the Spanish surname infant mortality rate as an index of urban Mexican American health status. Neonatal, postneonatal, and risk-factor-specific mortality rates were computed from linked birth and infant death records of the 1974-75 Harris County, Texas, cohort of 68,584 for Spanish surname White, non-Spanish surname White, and Black single live births. Infants of Mexican-born immigrants were distinguished from those of other Spanish surname parents by parental nativity information on birth records. Infants of Mexican immigrants IntroductionAlthough the Texas Spanish surname population, largely Mexican American, has a disproportionate share of infant mortality risk factors (low socioeconomic and educational status, high fertility and large family size, absent or inadequate prenatal care,'-and high incidence of diabetes mellitus and infectious diseases5), the actual infant mortality rate

Testing the Epidemiologic Paradox of Low Birth Weight in Latinos

“…9 Cultural factors may be relevant for the epidemiologic paradox, since foreign-born Latina women have lower rates of LBW infants than US-born women. 4,6,[10][11][12][13][14][15] Our understanding of the epidemiologic paradox is limited, however, since most studies of LBW in Latinos have not adjusted for confounding variables. 6 The objective of our study was to test the epidemiologic paradox of LBW among Latinos in California and to measure the relationships between LBW and Latino ethnicity and national origin subgroup.…”

Maternal Birthplace, Ethnicity, and Low Birth Weight in California

“…Our findings are consistent with previous studies of Latina women, 2,9,14-21 although our mul-tivariate analysis of a large, recent population contributes new information about perinatal outcomes among immigrant Latina women. The perinatal advantage of foreign-born Latina women in the United States has been reported since the 1980s, 9,14,15 but our understanding of the relationship between maternal nativity and perinatal outcomes is limited. Nativity differences in behavioral, medical, nutritional, or cultural factors are hypothesized to contribute to the perinatal advantage of foreign-born Latina women.…”

Health in the Inner City

“…In the United States, for example, the rate of low birth weight among Mexican-American newborns is significantly less than that among black newborns despite similarities in socioeconomic status (Institute of Medicine, 1985). This difference may reflect poor reporting in the Mexican-American population or cultural differences in dietary practices and family structure (Selby, Lee, Tuttle, and Loe, 1984). Regardless of the underlying causes, these differences must be addressed in investigations of infant and child health in the inner city.…”

“…Because of economic and environmental factors that affect HIV transmission, the risk of AIDS is significantly greater for American blacks and Hispanics than for whites. Black and Hispanic women and children are 6 to 13 times as likely to acquire AIDS as white women and children (Selik, Castro, and Pappaioanou, 1988). Such differences have profound implications for health in the inner city.…”