Ramadhani T, Short V, Canfield MA, Waller DK, Correa A, Royle M, Scheuerle A; National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). Are birth defects among Hispanics related to maternal nativity or number of years lived in the United States? Birth Defects Research Part A; Clinical and Molecular Teratology. 2009 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, Texas.
BACKGROUND: Literature on the risk of birth defects among foreign- versus U.S.-born Hispanics is limited or inconsistent. We examined the association between country of birth, immigration patterns, and birth defects among Hispanic mothers.
METHODS: We used data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals and assessed the relationship between mothers' country of birth, years lived in the United States, and birth defects among 575 foreign-born compared to 539 U.S.-born Hispanic mothers.
RESULTS: Hispanic mothers born in Mexico/Central America were more likely to deliver babies with spina bifida (OR = 1.53) than their U.S.-born counterparts. Also, mothers born in Mexico/Central America or who were recent United States immigrants (5 years were more likely to deliver babies with all neural tube defects combined (OR = 1.42), spina bifida (OR = 1.89), and longitudinal limb defects (OR = 2.34). Foreign-born mothers, regardless of their number of years lived in the United States, were more likely to deliver babies with anotia or microtia.
CONCLUSIONS: Depending on the type of birth defect, foreign-born Hispanic mothers might be at higher or lower risk of delivering babies with the defects. The differences might reflect variations in predisposition, cultural norms, behavioral characteristics, and/or ascertainment of the birth defects. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2009. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
PMID: 19350653
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