TABLE 1—
Demographic Characteristics and Access to Health Care Services: California, 1996–1998
| Mexican-Born Women | US-Born White, Non-Latinas | |||
| No. (%) (n = 409 765) | Missing | No. (%) n = 452 958 | Missing | |
| Mother’s age, y | Mean = 26.6 (SD = 5.8) | Mean = 29.0 (SD = 6.2) | ||
| < 18 | 15 315 (3.7) | 11 507 (2.5) | ||
| 18–24 | 146 541 (35.8) | 101 340 (22.4) | ||
| 25–29 | 125 310 (30.6) | 119 820 (26.5) | ||
| 30–34 | 80 020 (19.5) | 130 465 (28.8) | ||
| 35 | 42 513 (10.4) | 66 | 89 819 (19.8) | 7 |
| Parity | Mean = 2.4 (SD = 1.4) | Mean = 2.0 (SD = 1.1) | ||
| Delivery 1 | 126 884 (31.0) | 189 141 (41.8) | ||
| Delivery 2 or 3 | 208 566 (50.9) | 223 875 (49.4) | ||
| Delivery ≥ 4 | 74 004 (18.1) | 311 | 39 767 (8.8) | 175 |
| Education, y | Mean = 9.0 (SD = 3.4) | Mean = 13.8 (SD = 2.2) | ||
| 0–6 | 129 795 (32.2) | 718 (0.2) | ||
| 7–11 | 119 989 (29.7) | 18 974 (4.2) | ||
| 12 | 26 594 (6.6) | 23 916 (5.3) | ||
| 13–16 | 116 098 (28.8) | 258 632 (57.4) | ||
| > 16 | 11 228 (2.8) | 6061 | 148 115 (32.9) | 2603 |
| Economic status (payment source for PNC) | ||||
| Self pay | 15 424 (3.8) | 6220 (1.4) | ||
| Public insurance | 282 602 (69.9) | 105 622 (23.5) | ||
| HMO prepaid | 69 738 (17.3) | 207 242 (46.1) | ||
| Private insurance | 36 585 (9.1) | 5416 | 130 532 (29.0) | 3342 |
| Prenatal care initiation (Kotelchuck16) | Mean = 3.33 (SD = 0.85) | Mean = 3.62 (SD = 0.68) | ||
| 1 = No PNC or began PNC months 7, 8, or 9 | 20 601 (5.23) | 10 316 (2.33) | ||
| 2 = Began PNC months 5, 6 | 36 242 (9.20) | 18 632 (4.20) | ||
| 3 = Began PNC months 3, 4 | 129 815 (32.94) | 101 710 (22.94) | ||
| 4 = Began PNC months 1, 2 | 207 409 (52.63) | 312 713 (70.53) | ||
| Quality of Care | ||||
| Significantly better (i.e., significantly lower NMR) | 20 698 (5.1) | 50 956 (11.4) | ||
| Marginally better (i.e., marginally lower NMR) | 12 115 (3.0) | 7759 (1.7) | ||
| Not significantly different from expected | 338 372 (82.9) | 352 299 (78.5) | ||
| Marginally worse (i.e., marginally higher NMR) | 8543 (2.1) | 14 864 (3.3) | ||
| Significantly worse (i.e., significantly higher NMR) | 28 679 (7.0) | 1358 | 22 882 (5.1) | 4198 |
Note. NMR = neonatal mortality adjusted for birthweight, sex, race/ethnicity, and plurality; PNC = prenatal care.
Sources. California Office of State Health Planning and Development 1996–1998, and the Perinatal Quality Improvement Project, 1996–1997.11