ENIGMA OF MEXICAN ORIGIN PREGNANCY OUTCOMES

拟议研究的主要目标是提供一个更完整的 解释为什么墨西哥裔美国人，谁，基于大多数传统 指标，代表高危人群，有这样的相对 良好的妊娠结局。这项研究有以下具体内容 目标： (I)开发和测试关于社会经济、人口统计、 社会文化、生物医学和生理风险因素可能有助于 解开有利妊娠结局的谜团，尤其是分娩 体重，在墨西哥裔美国人中； (2)在比较的背景下探讨这些假设，包括 无论是非西班牙裔黑人还是非西班牙裔白人； (3)调查出生结果悖论在多大程度上解释了 就结果的种族选择性所造成的偏见而言； (4)第一次审查，是否有一套略有不同的 需要使用风险因素来解释以下两个组成部分的差异 低出生体重(早产和宫内发育迟缓) 墨西哥裔美国人似乎是非西班牙裔黑人和 白色的。 高度重视出生体重的理由是 研究人员、医生和政策制定者最初驻留在 出生体重无疑是最有力的预测因素 婴儿存活的机会。与这个问题同样重要的是， 出生体重对儿童健康的影响远远超出了可能性 在生命的第一年存活下来。低出生体重与 一系列儿童健康问题和较差的教育 成就和家庭功能。墨西哥裔美国人能够 在一个处境不利的社会中实现如此显著的有利生育结果 而经济背景表明改善因素的运作 抵消了否则将产生的非常不利的后果。鉴定 这些因素以及它们所通过的机制的规范 行动将提供极其有价值的信息来支持这些努力 促进所有种族婴儿和儿童的健康和福祉 和种族群体。 使用最近可用的具有全国代表性的数据集( 全国母婴健康调查)，检验假设将 首先将出生体重作为一个连续变量进行分析 使用传统的回归方法。当注意力转移到 低出生体重多项Logistic回归模型的组成部分将 被应用于分析种族和民族差异的风险 早产和胎儿宫内发育迟缓。

The major objective of the proposed research is to provide a more complete explanation of why Mexican Americans, who, based on most conventional indicators, represent a high-risk population, have such relatively favorable pregnancy outcomes. The research has the following specific aims: (i) to develop and test hypotheses regarding socioeconomic, demographic, sociocultural, biomedical, and physiological risk factors that may help to resolve the enigma of favorable pregnancy outcomes, especially birth weight, in the Mexican American population; (2) to explore these hypotheses in a comparative context that involves both non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites; (3) to investigate the extent to which the birth outcome paradox "explains itself" in terms of bias introduced by ethnic selectivity of outcomes; (4) to examine, for the first time, whether a somewhat different set of risk factors is required to account for variation in the two components of low birth weight (preterm birth and intrauterine growth retardation) among Mexican Americans as appears to be the case among non-Hispanic blacks and whites. The rationale for the tremendous emphasis placed on birth weight by researchers, medical practitioners, and policy-makers resides initially in the fact that birth weight is far and away the most powerful predictor of the chances of infant survival. As crucial as this issue is, the implications of birth weight for child health extend well beyond chances of surviving the first year of life. Low birth weight is associated with a host of childhood health problems and with poorer educational achievement and family functioning. The fact Mexican Americans are able to achieve such remarkably favorable birth outcomes in a disadvantaged social and economic context suggests the operation of ameliorating factors which offset what would otherwise be quite adverse consequences. Identification of these factors and specification of the mechanisms through which they operate would provide extremely valuable information in support of efforts to promote the health and well-being of infants and children of all racial and ethnic groups. Using a recently available nationally representative data set (the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey), testing of hypotheses will proceed first through analysis of birth weight as a continuous variable using conventional regression methods. When attention is shifted to the components of low birth weight multinomial logistic regression models will be applied to the analysis race and ethnic differentials in the risk of a preterm delivery and intrauterine growth retardation.