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The Asian birth outcome gap
Author(s) -
Qin Cheng,
Gould Jeffrey B.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3016.2006.00737.x
Subject(s) - medicine , birth certificate , demography , psychological intervention , vietnamese , ethnic group , logistic regression , epidemiology , parity (physics) , pregnancy , infant mortality , premature birth , birth order , death certificate , pediatrics , gestational age , population , environmental health , cause of death , linguistics , philosophy , physics , disease , particle physics , pathology , psychiatry , sociology , biology , anthropology , genetics
Summary Asians are often considered a single group in epidemiological research. This study examines the extent of differences in maternal risks and birth outcomes for six Asian subgroups. Using linked birth/infant death certificate data from the State of California for the years 1992–97, we assessed maternal socio‐economic risks and their effect on birthweight, preterm delivery (PTD), neonatal, post‐neonatal and infant mortality for Filipino (87 120), Chinese (67 228), Vietnamese (45 237), Korean (23 431), Cambodian/Laotian (21 239) and Japanese (18 276) live singleton births. The analysis also included information about non‐Hispanic whites and non‐Hispanic blacks in order to give a sense of the magnitude of risks among Asians. Logistic regression models explored the effect of maternal risk factors and PTD on Asian subgroup differences in neonatal and post‐neonatal mortality, using Japanese as the reference group. Across Asian subgroups, the differences ranged from 2.5‐ to 135‐fold for maternal risks, and 2.2‐fold for infant mortality rate. PTD was an important contributor to neonatal mortality differences. Maternal risk factors contributed to the disparities in post‐neonatal mortality. Significant differences in perinatal health across Asian subgroups deserve ethnicity‐specific interventions addressing PTD, teen pregnancy, maternal education, parity and access to prenatal care.