Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US 211 N Florence, Suite 101, El Paso, TX 79901, USA.
Prev Chronic Dis. 2013 Aug 15;10:E137. doi: 10.5888/pcd10.130019.
The US-Mexico border region has 15 million residents and 300,000 births annually. Reproductive health concerns have been identified on both sides of the border, but comparable information about reproductive health is not available. The objective of this study was to compare reproductive health indicators among populations in this region.
We used 2009 US Hispanic and Mexican birth certificate data to compare births inside the border region, elsewhere within the border states, and in the United States and Mexico overall. We examined trends in total fertility and birth rates using birth data from 2000 through 2009 and intercensal population estimates.
Among women in the border region, US women had more lifetime births than Mexican women in 2009 (2.69 births vs 2.15 births) and throughout the decade. Birth rates in the group aged 15 to 19 years were high in both the US (73.8/1,000) and Mexican (86.7/1,000) border regions. Late or no prenatal care was nearly twice as prevalent in the border regions as in the nonborder regions of border states. Low birth weight and preterm and early-term birth were more prevalent in the US border than in the Mexican border region; US border rates were higher and Mexican rates were lower than their corresponding nonborder and national rates. We found some variations within border states.
These findings constitute the first population-based information on the reproductive health of the entire Hispanic US-Mexico border population. Evidence of disparities warrants exploration at state and local levels. Teen pregnancy and inadequate prenatal care are shared problems in US-Mexico border communities and suggest an area for binational cooperation.
美墨边境地区拥有 1500 万居民和每年 30 万新生儿。美墨边境两侧都发现了生殖健康问题，但关于生殖健康的可比信息却没有。本研究的目的是比较该地区人口的生殖健康指标。
我们使用了 2009 年美国西班牙裔和墨西哥出生证明数据，比较了边境地区内、边境州内其他地区以及美国和墨西哥的出生情况。我们使用 2000 年至 2009 年的出生数据和人口普查间估计数，分析了总生育率和出生率的趋势。
在边境地区的女性中，2009 年美国女性的终生生育数多于墨西哥女性（2.69 次比 2.15 次），且在整个十年中也是如此。15 至 19 岁年龄组的出生率在美国（73.8/1000）和墨西哥（86.7/1000）边境地区都很高。晚或无产前保健在边境地区几乎是边境州非边境地区的两倍。低出生体重、早产和早期早产在美国边境地区比在墨西哥边境地区更为普遍；美国边境地区的比率较高，而墨西哥边境地区的比率较低，其比率高于其相应的非边境和全国比率。我们发现边境各州存在一些差异。
这些发现构成了关于整个美墨边境西班牙裔美国人口生殖健康的第一批基于人群的信息。证据表明，在州和地方一级存在差异，需要进行探讨。青少年怀孕和产前保健不足是美墨边境社区共同存在的问题，这表明需要进行双边合作。
