Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Chae, David H.
• Clouston, Sean
• Martz, Connor D.
• Hatzenbuehler, Mark L.
• Cooper, Hannah L.F.
• Turpin, Rodman
• Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth
• Kramer, Michael R.

Titel

Area racism and birth outcomes among Blacks in the United States

Ist Teil von

• Social science & medicine (1982), 2018-02, Vol.199, p.49-55

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• There is increasing evidence that racism is a cause of poor health outcomes in the United States, including adverse birth outcomes among Blacks. However, research on the health consequences of racism has faced measurement challenges due to the more subtle nature of contemporary racism, which is not necessarily amenable to assessment through traditionally used survey methods. In this study, we circumvent some of these limitations by examining a previously developed Internet query-based proxy of area racism (Stephens-Davidowitz, 2014) in relation to preterm birth and low birthweight among Blacks. Area racism was measured in 196 designated market areas as the proportion of total Google searches conducted between 2004 and 2007 containing the “n-word.” This measure was linked to county-level birth data among Blacks between 2005 and 2008, which were compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics; preterm birth and low birthweight were defined as <37 weeks gestation and <2500 g, respectively. After adjustment for maternal age, Census region, and county-level measures of urbanicity, percent of the Black population, education, and poverty, we found that each standard deviation increase in area racism was associated with relative increases of 5% in the prevalence of preterm birth and 5% in the prevalence of low birthweight among Blacks. Our study provides evidence for the utility of an Internet query-based measure as a proxy for racism at the area-level in epidemiologic studies, and is also suggestive of the role of racism in contributing to poor birth outcomes among Blacks. •Examines area racism measured using volume of Google searches for the “n-word.”•Shows significant associations with preterm birth and low birthweight among Blacks.•Demonstrates the utility of using Internet query-based proxies to assess racism.•Provides evidence for the harmful effects of racism on birth outcomes among Blacks.