Immigrant Health Inequalities in the United States: Use of Eight Major National Data Systems
Table 3
Infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births and prevalence (%) of sociodemographic and medical risk factors for selected ethnic-immigrant groups, United States, 1999–2002 ( live births).
Ethnic-nativity group
Teen birth (maternal age 19 years)
Maternal education 16 years
Delayed or no prenatal care
Smoking during pregnancy
Low birthweight
Preterm birth
Gestational diabetes
Chronic/pregnancy hypertension
Infant mortality rate
Unadjusted infant mortality risk ratio4
Adjusted infant mortality risk ratio5
95% confidence interval
Total population
US-born1
12.47
26.22
3.23
14.27
8.01
12.16
2.86
5.09
7.21
1.39*
1.26
1.23–1.29
Foreign-born2
8.03
20.33
5.60
2.06
6.48
10.17
3.57
2.83
5.17
Reference
1.00
Reference
Non-Hispanic white
US-born
8.81
32.35
2.19
16.02
6.78
10.75
2.88
5.16
5.74
1.25*
1.21
1.16–1.26
Foreign-born
3.25
41.33
3.48
5.67
6.00
9.32
3.06
3.89
4.59
Reference
1.00
Reference
Non-Hispanic black
US-born
21.09
10.62
6.43
10.10
13.62
17.98
2.60
5.64
13.84
1.43*
1.41
1.36–1.48
Foreign-born
5.55
23.45
6.84
1.30
9.84
14.01
4.28
4.86
9.71
Reference
1.00
Reference
Chinese
US-born
3.56
73.77
1.42
3.11
7.36
10.06
4.36
3.23
2.96
0.96
0.87
0.61–1.24
Foreign-born
0.58
54.12
2.24
0.32
5.06
7.24
4.91
1.33
3.08
Reference
1.00
Reference
Japanese
US-born
3.40
58.23
1.45
5.65
8.02
10.80
5.34
4.14
5.37
1.47*
1.35
0.97–1.89
Foreign-born
0.43
48.29
2.28
2.91
7.08
7.43
2.39
1.41
3.65
Reference
1.00
Reference
Filipino
US-born
12.57
32.92
3.05
6.89
9.41
12.89
3.84
4.03
5.84
1.04
0.94
0.78–1.15
Foreign-born
3.02
44.44
2.90
1.93
8.36
12.35
5.62
3.90
5.62
Reference
1.00
Reference
Asian Indian3
US-born
6.17
60.69
3.61
4.04
10.03
11.02
3.97
2.93
7.28
1.81*
1.58
1.05–2.36
Foreign-born
1.09
54.70
3.89
0.26
9.45
9.87
8.00
2.44
4.02
Reference
1.00
Reference
Korean3
US-born
8.59
56.04
2.87
8.05
6.38
9.63
3.00
3.38
3.26
0.83
0.70
0.34–1.46
Foreign-born
0.89
60.60
3.22
3.14
4.79
7.17
2.68
1.54
3.92
Reference
1.00
Reference
Vietnamese3
US-born
27.30
17.66
6.19
10.70
7.72
10.39
2.24
2.74
4.80
1.22
1.26
0.60–2.63
Foreign-born
1.56
26.33
2.04
0.73
6.45
9.90
3.85
1.45
3.95
Reference
1.00
Reference
Mexican
US-born
24.13
7.84
4.70
5.18
6.91
12.15
2.60
3.48
6.14
1.25*
1.30
1.25–1.35
Foreign-born
12.27
3.68
7.34
0.75
5.57
10.64
3.07
2.52
4.90
Reference
1.00
Reference
Puerto Rican
Mainland US-born
21.32
9.32
4.65
11.15
9.47
13.77
3.54
3.73
8.33
1.05
1.00
0.91–1.10
Island/foreign-born
16.11
13.85
4.34
7.52
9.34
13.63
4.23
3.83
7.95
Reference
1.00
Reference
Central and South American
US-born
20.31
21.81
3.52
4.78
7.34
11.25
2.40
3.67
5.52
1.15*
1.17
1.03–1.34
Foreign-born
8.05
13.54
5.51
0.94
6.34
11.19
3.06
3.06
4.82
Reference
1.00
Reference
US-born are those born in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 2Foreign-born are those born outside these territories. 3Data for Asian Indians, Koreans, and Vietnamese were available for only 11 states: CA, HI, IL, MI, MO, NJ, NY, TX, VA, WA, and WV. *. 4Risk ratio: ratio of the infant mortality rate or risk for the US-born in each ethnic group to that for the corresponding immigrant group. 5Adjusted by Cox proportional hazards regression for maternal age, marital status, birth order, infant sex, plurality, maternal education, prenatal care, and smoking during pregnancy. Source: data derived from the 1999–2002 US National Linked Birth and Infant Death data files, see also [13].
