Inequalities in cesarean births between American Indian & Alaska Native people and White people.

OBJECTIVE: To explore population-level American Indian & Alaska Native-White inequalities in cesarean birth incidence after accounting for differences in cesarean indication, age, and other individual-level risk factors. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: We used birth certificate data inclusive of all live births within the United States between January 1 and December 31, 2017. STUDY DESIGN: We calculated propensity score weights that simultaneously incorporate age, cesarean indication, and clinical and obstetric risk factors to estimate the American Indian and Alaska Native-White inequality. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Births to individuals identified as American Indian, Alaska Native, or White, and residing in one of the 50 US states or the District of Columbia were included. Births were excluded if missing maternal race/ethnicity or any other covariate. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After weighing the American Indian and Alaska Native obstetric population to be comparable to the distribution of cesarean indication, age, and clinical and obstetric risk factors of the White population, the cesarean incidence among American Indian and Alaska Natives increased to 33.4% (95% CI: 32.0-34.8), 3.2 percentage points (95% CI: 1.8-4.7) higher than the observed White incidence. After adjustment, cesarean birth incidence remained higher and increased in magnitude among American Indian and Alaska Natives in Robson groups 1 (low risk, primary), 6 (nulliparous, breech presentation), and 9 (transverse/oblique lie). CONCLUSIONS: The unadjusted lower cesarean birth incidence observed among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals compared to White individuals may be related to their younger mean age at birth. After adjusting for this demographic difference, we demonstrate that American Indian and Alaska Native individuals undergo cesarean birth more frequently than White individuals with similar risk profiles, particularly within the low-risk Robson group 1 and those with non-cephalic presentations (Robson groups 6 and 9). Racism and bias in clinical decision making, structural racism, colonialism, or other unidentified factors may contribute to this inequality.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Diabetes Diagnosis and Glycemic Control Among Women of Reproductive Age.

BACKGROUND: Types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus complicate pregnancies and threaten the health of women of reproductive age and their children. Among older adults, diabetes morbidity disproportionately burdens racial/ethnic minorities, but diabetes emergence among younger adults has not been as well characterized. The objective of this study was to describe the distribution of diagnosed diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, suboptimal preconception glycemic control, and prediabetes among women of reproductive age across racial/ethnic backgrounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed data collected in 2007-2008 from 6774 nonpregnant women, ages 24-32, in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes were identified by fasting glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) and diagnosed diabetes by self-report or antihyperglycemic medication use. We used multinomial regression models to predict prediabetes or diabetes versus normoglycemia. Within women with diabetes, we used logistic regression to predict those being undiagnosed and having suboptimal preconception glycemic control based on A1C. RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of diabetes was 6.8%, of which 45.3% was undiagnosed. Diabetes prevalence varied by race/ethnicity (p < 0.001): 15.0% of non-Hispanic black women (75.6% undiagnosed), 7.5% of Hispanic women (48.1% undiagnosed), 4.8% of non-Hispanic white women (22.8% undiagnosed), and 4.5% of Asian women (11.4% undiagnosed). The prevalence of prediabetes was highest in non-Hispanic black (38.5%), followed by Hispanic (27.8%), Asian (25.1%), Native American (20.3%), and non-Hispanic white (16.6%) women. CONCLUSIONS: Racial/ethnic disparities exist among women of reproductive age with prediabetes and diabetes. Meeting their healthcare needs requires addressing health inequities and coordination of diabetes management with reproductive health.

Reducing Cardiovascular Disparities Through Community-Engaged Implementation Research: A National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop Report.

Cardiovascular disparities remain pervasive in the United States. Unequal disease burden is evident among population groups based on sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, nativity, or geography. Despite the significant declines in cardiovascular disease mortality rates in all demographic groups during the last 50 years, large disparities remain by sex, race, ethnicity, and geography. Recent data from modeling studies, linked micromap plots, and small-area analyses also demonstrate prominent variation in cardiovascular disease mortality rates across states and counties, with an especially high disease burden in the southeastern United States and Appalachia. Despite these continued disparities, few large-scale intervention studies have been conducted in these high-burden populations to examine the feasibility of reducing or eliminating cardiovascular disparities. To address this challenge, on June 22 and 23, 2017, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute convened experts from a broad range of biomedical, behavioral, environmental, implementation, and social science backgrounds to summarize the current state of knowledge of cardiovascular disease disparities and propose intervention strategies aligned with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute mission. This report presents the themes, challenges, opportunities, available resources, and recommended actions discussed at the workshop.

Guidelines for research recruitment of underserved populations (EERC).

PURPOSE: Despite concerted efforts to establish health equity, significant disparities persist. One roadblock to eliminating health disparities is the inadequate recruitment of underserved populations, which prevents researchers from creating culturally-tailored interventions. To further develop the science of recruitment, we argue that a systematic approach should be applied to research participant recruitment. Given the lack of practical and comprehensive recruitment conceptual frameworks or guidelines in the literature, the authors propose newly synthesized guidelines for research recruitment of underserved populations: EERC (evaluate, engage, reflect, and carefully match). METHODS: The EERC guidelines are delineated, and the application of these guidelines is illustrated through a study recently conducted by the authors. RESULTS: The guidelines consist of the following four components: 1. Evaluate the composition of the research team; 2. Engage fully with the community by working with key informants and cultural insiders; 3. Reflect the unique cultural characteristics of the community in the research conduct; and 4. Carefully use a matching technique. The application component of the article demonstrates concrete examples of how the guidelines can enhance research recruitment for an underserved population. CONCLUSION: The authors intend these guidelines to be broadly applicable for research teams regardless of research design or characteristics of the underserved population. Application of these guidelines in nursing and health science will contribute to increasing research recruitment of underserved populations, with the goal of reducing health disparities and achieving health equity for all persons.

Maternal depressive symptoms and healthcare expenditures for publicly insured children with chronic health conditions.

This study estimated the prevalence of maternal depressive symptoms and tested associations between maternal depressive symptoms and healthcare utilization and expenditures among United States publicly insured children with chronic health conditions (CCHC). A total of 6,060 publicly insured CCHC from the 2004-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys were analyzed using negative binomial models to compare healthcare utilization for CCHC of mothers with and without depressive symptoms. Annual healthcare expenditures for both groups were compared using a two-part model with a logistic regression and generalized linear model. The prevalence of depressive symptoms among mothers with CCHC was 19 %. There were no differences in annual healthcare utilization for CCHC of mothers with and without depressive symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with greater odds of ED expenditures [odds ratio (OR) 1.26; 95 % CI 1.03-1.54] and lesser odds of dental expenditures (OR 0.81; 95 % CI 0.66-0.98) and total expenditures (OR 0.71; 95 % CI 0.51-0.98). Children of symptomatic mothers had lower predicted outpatient expenditures and higher predicted expenditures for total health, prescription medications, dental care; and office based, inpatient and ED visits. Mothers with CCHC were more likely to report depressive symptoms than were mothers with children without chronic health conditions. There were few differences in annual healthcare utilization and expenditures between CCHC of mothers with and without depressive symptoms. However, having a mother with depressive symptoms was associated with higher ED expenditures and higher predicted healthcare expenditures in a population of children who comprise over three-fourths of the top decile of Medicaid spending.

Interactive behaviors of American Indian mothers and their premature infants.

The interactive behaviors of 17 American Indian mothers and their premature infants and selected maternal and infant factors affecting those behaviors were measured using naturalistic observation and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory at 3, 6, and 12 months corrected infant age. The frequency of some maternal behaviors changed over the first 12 months. Mothers spent less time holding, looking at, touching, and interacting with their premature infants and more time uninvolved as the infant aged. Maternal education and infant illness severity were associated with mother-infant interactive behaviors and HOME Inventory scores. These findings emphasize the importance of maternal and infant factors affecting the interactions between American Indian premature infants and their mothers.