PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Decades of disparities in health between infants born to Black and White mothers have persisted in recent years, despite policy initiatives to improve maternal and reproductive health for Black mothers. Although scholars have increasingly recognized the critical role that structural racism plays in driving health outcomes for Black people, measurement of this relationship remains challenging. This study examines trends in preterm birth and low birth weight between 2007 and 2018 separately for births to Black and White mothers. Using a multivariate regression model, we evaluated potential factors, including an index of racialized disadvantage as well as community- and individual-level factors that serve as proxy measures for structural racism, that may contribute to White-Black differences in infant health. Finally, we assessed whether unequal effects of these factors may explain differences in birth outcomes. We found that differences in the effects of these factors appear to explain about half of the underlying disparity in infant health.
摘要：
近年来，黑人和白人母亲所生的婴儿在健康方面存在数十年的差异，尽管采取了改善黑人母亲的孕产妇和生殖健康的政策举措。尽管学者们越来越认识到结构性种族主义在推动黑人健康方面的关键作用，衡量这种关系仍然具有挑战性。这项研究调查了2007年至2018年间黑人和白人母亲的早产和低出生体重的趋势。使用多元回归模型，我们评估了潜在的因素，包括种族化劣势指数以及作为结构性种族主义替代措施的社区和个人层面因素，这可能会导致婴儿健康方面的白黑差异。最后,我们评估了这些因素的不平等效应是否可以解释分娩结局的差异.我们发现，这些因素的影响差异似乎可以解释婴儿健康中潜在差异的一半。
