Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 16, Issue 4, 2014, Pages 646-651

Disparities and barriers encountered by immigrant Dominican mothers accessing prenatal care services in Puerto Rico (Article)

Colón-Burgos J.F.* , Colón-Jordan H.M. , Reyes-Ortiz V.E. , Marin-Centeno H.A. , Rios-Mota R.
  • a Department of Social Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, PO BOX 365067, San Juan 00936-5067, Puerto Rico
  • b Department of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • c Department of Human Development, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • d Department of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • e Department of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Abstract

Inadequate access to prenatal services has been associated with higher rates of mother and child mortality and premature births in the general population. Thus, this paper aims to compare the utilization and adequacy of prenatal care services of Dominican immigrant mothers with that of Puerto Rican mothers. Data was extracted from birth certificates using a cohort from 1998 to 2002 (n = 252, 919). The Kotelchuck index for adequate prenatal care was used for comparison with socio-demographic characteristics of the population. Less than half of Dominican mothers (48.5 %) received adequate prenatal care compared to more than two-thirds (69.1 %) of Puerto Rican mothers (p <.001). After controlling for demographic characteristics, health insurance, pregnancy risks, complications and previous birth (parity) the odds of receiving adequate care of Dominican mothers was 0.7 that of Puerto Rican mothers (p <.001). These results suggest significant disparities in obtaining adequate prenatal care services among migrant women and native Puerto Ricans. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Prenatal care Immigrant health Health services access Latino/hispanic health Health services utilization

Index Keywords

Puerto Rico prenatal care demography human ethnology Dominican Republic Humans Adolescent female pregnancy Mothers pregnancy outcome adult mother utilization patient attitude Patient Acceptance of Health Care Healthcare Disparities health care disparity Health Services Accessibility health care delivery

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84904395277&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-013-9875-8&partnerID=40&md5=13997a090aa54fc9214e3cdf9374a350

DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9875-8
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 8
Original Language: English