Infant Health among Indochinese Refugees: Patterns of Infant Mortality, Birthweight, and Prenatal Care in Comparative Macro-Micro Perspective
Author(s):
Rumbaut, Ruben G.; Weeks, John R
Format:
Journal article
Publisher:
1989.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Findings are presented from analysis of relevant data from a matched file of all births (N = 269,252) & infant deaths (N = 2,281) recorded during 1978-1985 in the San Diego (Calif) metropolitan area, site of one of the largest concentrations of refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, & Laos who have come to the US since 1975 in the aftermath of the Indochina War. In addition to comparative data on infant mortality rates (IMRs), birthweight, prenatal care, & related sociodemographic variables, data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of Indochinese refugees in San Diego during 1982-1985 (N = 739). Most Indochinese ethnic groups appear to be at high risk for poor infant health outcomes: they came from a background of high fertility & infant mortality, often with little formal education or transferable occupational skills; their levels of unemployment, welfare dependency, poverty, & demoralization greatly exceed US norms; & lack of English proficiency limits access to health care & social services. Compared to all other ethnic groups in San Diego, Indochinese mothers exhibited the latest onset of prenatal care & had lower birthweight babies. Surprisingly, however, the Indochinese overall were found to have much lower IMRs (6.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births) than the San Diego average (8.5), & two groups actually exhibited the lowest IMRs: Vietnamese (5.5) & Cambodians (5.8). Only the Hmong (9.1) had a higher IMR than Hispanics (7.3) & non-Hispanic whites (8.0), though still much lower than blacks (16.3). For all ethnic groups, 95% of the variance in IMRs remained unexplained after controlling for the effects of low birthweight & late onset of prenatal care, suggesting the need to refocus research efforts & to reexamine the complex multidetermination of birth outcomes.