摘要：Objectives. We analyzed the health of Mexican American women aged 15 to 44 years, by generation and language preference, to guide planning for reproductive health services in this growing population. Methods. We used personal interview and medical examination data from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. We used SUDAAN for calculating age-adjusted prevalence estimates of demographic and health characteristics. The Satterthwaite adjusted F test and Student t test were used for subgroup comparisons. Results. The women had different health profiles ( P < .05) by generation and language preference. Second- and later-generation women and women who used more English were more likely to be sexually active, to have been younger at first intercourse, and to have had more male sexual partners than were first-generation women and women who used more Spanish. Compared with their first-generation counterparts, second- and later-generation women drank more alcohol, were better educated, had higher incomes, and were more likely to have health insurance. Third-generation women were more likely to have delivered a low-birthweight baby than were first-generation women. Conclusions. Differences by generation and language preference suggest that acculturation should be considered when planning interventions to promote healthy reproductive behaviors among Mexican American women. The Hispanic population in the United States increased from 35.7 million in 2000 to 44.3 million in 2006. 1 – 3 In 2005, there were an estimated 10.2 million Hispanic women aged 15 to 44 years, representing an increase of about 19% from 8.6 million in 2000. 2 The rapid increase in the Hispanic population has been attributed to immigration and high fertility. 4 About two thirds of Hispanics in the United States are Mexican American, 3 and Mexican American women of reproductive age have higher birth rates than do women of other races and Hispanic origins. 4 This top ranking has not changed appreciably over time even though fertility and birth rates declined for Mexican and other Hispanic populations between 1990 and 2005. 5 Young Mexican American women aged 15 to 19 years also have higher fertility and birth rates than do young women of other races and Hispanic origins. 4 Preliminary US birth data for 2006 show that birth rates for Hispanic women aged 15–44 years are on the rise again and that more than 1 million Hispanic women gave birth in 2006, a record high. 6 Furthermore, Hispanic women of reproductive age are less likely to be using contraception (59%) than are non-Hispanic White women (65%). 7 Recognizing the growing need for reproductive health services among the rapidly increasing Hispanic population, we studied demographics, measures of access to health care, sexual activity, pregnancy history, contraceptive use, and other health behaviors among Mexican American women aged 15–44 years from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which collected nationally representative data through in-person interviews and physical and laboratory examinations. Many previous reports have focused more generally on Hispanic, Latina, or foreign-born women or on a single health behavior or outcome. 8 – 28 To provide relevant and culturally appropriate information for program assessment, appropriate intervention planning, and resource allocation, we restricted our analysis to Mexican American women and stratified the sample by generational status and English or Spanish language preference. These factors are surrogate measures of acculturation, the process through which immigrant groups exchange cultural traits from their country of origin for those of their host country, and have been tied to reproductive health behaviors in previous research. 9 , 10 , 18 – 20 , 22 – 25 , 27 , 28 We hypothesized that their reproductive health would vary by level of acculturation.
