Examining variation within Hispanic ethnicity: An intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) of birthweight inequities in New York City, 2012–2019

IF 3.6 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Ssm-Population Health Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ssmph.2025.101759

Luisa N. Borrell , Christina I. Nieves , Clare R. Evans

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Birthweight inequities in the United States have been persistent with variations observed across maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, and nativity status. However, the Hispanic/Latino population is often treated as a monolithic category, ignoring within-group diversity and heterogeneity of health outcomes. This study employed an intersectional MAIHDA (multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy) to examine birthweight inequities among singleton births in New York City from 2012 to 2019 (n = 819,920 records of singleton births) by maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, and nativity status, with particular attention to within-group heterogeneity among Hispanic/Latino mothers. Birthweight was measured in grams and was considered continuous for analytical purposes. The analysis was conducted using both the aggregate "Hispanic" category and disaggregated into Hispanic subgroups, based on the country/region of birth as part of the racial/ethnic categories. We found that 2.7%–3.2% of the variation in birthweight means among NYC women lies between intersectional strata, suggesting both meaningful between-stratum birthweight inequities and a high-degree of between-person birthweight variation. The finding of between-stratum inequities is consistent with a difference of 384.7g. between strata with the highest and lowest predicted birthweight means. We found consistent additive inequity patterns in birthweight by maternal age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and nativity status. The latter explained 81.2% of the variation in birthweight inequities. While attention to subgroup differences is often limited by sample size, intersectional MAIHDA allows for the identification of between- and within-strata variations regardless of whether Hispanic ethnicity was treated as an aggregate or subgroup based on country/region of origin.

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来源期刊

Ssm-Population Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

2.10%

发文量

298

审稿时长

101 days

期刊介绍： SSM - Population Health. The new online only, open access, peer reviewed journal in all areas relating Social Science research to population health. SSM - Population Health shares the same Editors-in Chief and general approach to manuscripts as its sister journal, Social Science & Medicine. The journal takes a broad approach to the field especially welcoming interdisciplinary papers from across the Social Sciences and allied areas. SSM - Population Health offers an alternative outlet for work which might not be considered, or is classed as ''out of scope'' elsewhere, and prioritizes fast peer review and publication to the benefit of authors and readers. The journal welcomes all types of paper from traditional primary research articles, replication studies, short communications, methodological studies, instrument validation, opinion pieces, literature reviews, etc. SSM - Population Health also offers the opportunity to publish special issues or sections to reflect current interest and research in topical or developing areas. The journal fully supports authors wanting to present their research in an innovative fashion though the use of multimedia formats.