You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 153 No. 2, February 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Article
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on Web of Science (48)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Topic Collections
 •Pregnancy and Breast Feeding
 •Alert me on articles by topic
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Testing the Epidemiologic Paradox of Low Birth Weight in Latinos

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH; Nancy A. Hessol, MSPH; Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:147-153.

Background  Rates of low-birth-weight (LBW) infants are similar between Latina and white women, an epidemiologic paradox. However, few studies have analyzed the relationship between ethnicity, Latino subgroup, confounding variables, and LBW.

Methods  We analyzed 395,070 singleton livebirths to Latina and non-Latina white women in California during 1992. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risks due to Latino ethnicity and Latino subgroup for very LBW (VLBW, 500-1499 g) and moderately LBW (MLBW, 1500-2499 g) outcomes.

Results  Latina and white women had similar unadjusted rates of VLBW (0.7% vs 0.6%) and MLBW infants (3.7% vs 3.4%). After adjusting for maternal age, education, birthplace, marital status, parity, tobacco use, use of prenatal care, infant sex, and gestational age, there was no difference in the odds of VLBW infants between Latina and white women (OR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.81-1.07]). Latina women had minimally elevated odds of MLBW infants (OR, 1.06 [95% CI, 1.01-1.11]) compared with white women. By Latino subgroup, there was no difference in the adjusted odds of VLBW infants among Central and South American, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and white women. The adjusted odds of MLBW infants were elevated among Central and South American (OR, 1.14 [95% CI, 1.05-1.25]) and Puerto Rican women (OR, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.12-1.78]), relative to white women.

Conclusions  The epidemiologic paradox of LBW in Latinos is valid. New conceptual models are needed to identify Latina women who are at risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes.


From the Departments of Pediatrics (Dr Fuentes-Afflick), Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Dr Fuentes-Afflick), Medicine (Ms Hessol and Dr Pérez-Stable), and Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences (Ms Hessol), the Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations (Drs Fuentes-Afflick and Pérez-Stable), the Institute for Health Policy Studies (Dr Fuentes-Afflick), and the Division of General Internal Medicine (Dr Pérez-Stable), School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Ethnic advantages in kidney transplant outcomes: the Hispanic Paradox at work?
Gordon and Caicedo
Nephrol Dial Transplant 2009;24:1103-1109.
FULL TEXT  

Obesity Among Latino Preschoolers: Do Children Outgrow the "Epidemiologic Paradox"?
Fuentes-Afflick
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006;160:656-657.
FULL TEXT  

The Healthy Immigrant Effect: A Greater Understanding Might Help Us Improve the Health of All Children
Flores and Brotanek
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005;159:295-297.
FULL TEXT  

The Differential Effect of Foreign-Born Status on Low Birth Weight by Race/Ethnicity and Education
Acevedo-Garcia et al.
Pediatrics 2005;115:e20-e30.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Latina Paradox: An Opportunity for Restructuring Prenatal Care Delivery
McGlade et al.
AJPH 2004;94:2062-2065.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ethnicity and Race Influence the Folate Status Response to Controlled Folate Intakes in Young Women
Perry et al.
J. Nutr. 2004;134:1786-1792.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Perinatal Outcomes in Two Dissimilar Immigrant Populations in the United States: A Dual Epidemiologic Paradox
Gould et al.
Pediatrics 2003;111:e676-682.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

An Anomaly Within the Latino Epidemiological Paradox: The Latino Adolescent Male Mortality Peak
Hayes-Bautista et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002;156:480-484.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Adolescent Latino Reproductive Health: A Review of the Literature
Driscoll et al.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 2001;23:255-326.
ABSTRACT  

Acculturation Status, Birth Outcomes, and Family Planning Compliance Among Hispanic Teens
Jones et al.
The Journal of School Nursing 2001;17:83-89.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1999 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.