Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2012 Oct 13;12:110. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-12-110.
The number of children born to foreign-born mothers in Taiwan has significantly increased since the 1990s. These foreign-born mothers are mainly from China and Southeast Asia. Children born to foreign-born mothers, according to media reports, are subject to inferior health. This study sought to determine whether socioeconomic disparities in birth outcomes exist between native and foreign-born mothers in Taiwan.
Analysis data were obtained from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study of 20,090 nationally representative 6-month-old babies, born in 2005. The data on the babies were divided into two groups, those of foreign-born mothers and those of Taiwanese mothers. The health outcome variables that were examined included two adverse birth outcomes: low birth weight and preterm birth. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association between income and foreign-born status, as well as birth outcomes among both groups.
Children of native Taiwanese mothers had a higher prevalence of low birth weight (6.9%) than did children of China-born (4.7%) and Southeast Asia-born mothers (5.2%). The prevalence of preterm birth was also higher among children of native Taiwanese mothers (8.4%) than among children of Southeast Asia-born (7.2%) and China-born mothers (6.3%). Foreign-born status was associated with lower odds of low birth weight among families with a monthly family income < NT$30,000 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.14-0.42, p < 0.001), and lower odds of preterm birth among families with a monthly family income < NT$30,000 and NT$30,000-69,999 (AOR = 0.63, CI = 0.40-0.99, p < 0.05, and AOR = 0.68, CI = 0.53-0.88, p < 0.01, respectively). Having a higher monthly family income (NT$70,000+ and NT$30,000-69,999) was associated with lower odds of low birth weight (AOR = 0.59, CI = 0.46-0.77, p < 0.001 and AOR = 0.75, CI = 0.60-0.94, p < 0.05, respectively) among Taiwanese mothers, but not among foreign-born mothers.
Foreign-born mothers from China and Southeast Asia did not experience worse birth outcomes than native Taiwanese mothers did, regardless of the disadvantaged socioeconomic position of their families.
自 20 世纪 90 年代以来，在台湾出生的外国出生母亲的数量显著增加。这些外国出生的母亲主要来自中国和东南亚。据媒体报道，外国出生母亲所生的孩子健康状况较差。本研究旨在确定台湾的本地和外国出生母亲之间是否存在出生结局的社会经济差异。
分析数据来自于 2005 年出生的 20090 名具有全国代表性的 6 个月大婴儿的台湾出生队列研究。将婴儿的数据分为两组，一组是外国出生母亲的婴儿，另一组是台湾母亲的婴儿。检查的健康结果变量包括两个不良出生结局：低出生体重和早产。多变量逻辑回归用于检验收入与外国出生身份之间的关系，以及两组的出生结果。
与中国出生（4.7%）和东南亚出生（5.2%）的母亲相比，台湾本地母亲的孩子低出生体重（6.9%）的发生率更高。与东南亚出生（7.2%）和中国出生（6.3%）的母亲相比，台湾本地母亲的孩子早产（8.4%）的发生率也更高。在家庭月收入<NT$30,000 的家庭中，外国出生身份与低出生体重的几率较低有关（调整后的优势比（AOR）=0.24，95%置信区间（CI）=0.14-0.42，p<0.001），在家庭月收入<NT$30,000 和 NT$30,000-69,999 的家庭中，外国出生身份与早产的几率较低有关（AOR=0.63，CI=0.40-0.99，p<0.05，AOR=0.68，CI=0.53-0.88，p<0.01）。较高的月家庭收入（NT$70,000+和 NT$30,000-69,999）与台湾母亲的低出生体重几率较低有关（AOR=0.59，CI=0.46-0.77，p<0.001 和 AOR=0.75，CI=0.60-0.94，p<0.05，分别），但与外国出生母亲无关。
来自中国和东南亚的外国出生母亲的出生结局并不比本地台湾母亲差，无论其家庭的社会经济地位不利如何。
