Linked Dataset Analysis of Disparities in Cesarean Delivery Rates on the US-Mexico Border

 

As part of the US Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal And Child Health Field-Initiated Research Program, NMSU faculty members and students are trying to determine why rates of cesarean delivery are substantially higher in the US-Mexico border Hispanic population than among non-border California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas Hispanics. While cesarean delivery rates have fallen in recent years in other US populations, they have risen among Hispanics in the border counties.

This secondary data analysis project links individual-level birth certificate data to several sources of county-level data in the four border states in order to explore the relationships between environmental and other contextual factors and the risk of cesarean delivery. Geographic comparisons, race/ethnicity comparisons, and trends in cesarean delivery outcomes over time are also being studied. This collaborative project involves faculty members and students from the College of Health and Social Services and the College of Business. In addition to combining unique perspectives to address this border region health disparity, this project is also building critical research skills among students.