Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Non-Hispanic Black women remain at increased risk for adverse birth outcomes, yet Black immigrant women are at lower risk than their US-born counterparts. This study examines whether neighborhood context contributes to the nativity advantage in preterm birth (PTB, < 37 weeks) among Black women in California. A sample of live singleton births to non-Hispanic US-born (n = 83,169), African-born (n = 7151), and Caribbean-born (n = 943) Black women was drawn from 2007 to 2010 California birth records and geocoded to urban census tracts. ⋯ The nativity advantage in PTB risk was robust to neighborhood social conditions and maternal factors for African-born women (RR = 0.59, 95%CI: 0.51-0.67). This study is one of few that considers area-level explanations of the nativity advantage among Black immigrants and makes a significant contribution by showing that the neighborhood context does not explain the nativity advantage in PTB among Black women in California. This could be due to many factors that should be examined in future research.
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Immigrant women represent half of New York City (NYC) births, and some immigrant groups have elevated risk for poor maternal health outcomes. Disparities in health care utilization across the maternity care spectrum may contribute to differential maternal health outcomes. Data on immigrant maternal health utilization are under-explored in the literature. ⋯ The largest disparities were among recent arrivals to the US and immigrants from countries in Central America, South America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Utilization differences were partially explained by insurance type, paternal nativity, maternal education, and race and ethnicity. Disparities may be reduced by collaborating with community-based organizations in immigrant communities on strategies to improve utilization and by expanding health care access and eligibility for public health insurance coverage before and after pregnancy.
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Violent crime increased and most property crime decreased in many United States (US) cities during the coronavirus pandemic. Using negative binomial regressions, we examined the association between physical distancing (a central coronavirus containment strategy) and crime within 16 large cities (in 12 US states and the District of Columbia) through July 2020. Physical distancing was measured with aggregated smartphone data and defined as the average change in the percentage of the population staying completely at home. ⋯ In multivariable models, increases in the percentage of the population staying home were associated with decreases in reported incidents of aggravated assault, interpersonal firearm violence, theft, rape, and robbery, and increases in arson, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. Results suggest that changes in the frequency of interpersonal interactions affected crime during the coronavirus pandemic. More research is needed on the specificity of these assocations and their underlying mechanisms.
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Communities marginalized because of racism, heterosexism, and other systems of oppression have a history of being aggressively policed, and in those contexts, researchers have observed associations between a range of negative experiences with police and poor physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes. However, past studies have been limited in that experiences of police contacts were aggregated at the neighborhood level and, if police contacts were self-reported, the sample was not representative. ⋯ The associations between experiences with police and poor health outcomes were strongest among Black residents and residents aged 25-44. Our findings suggest that the health of NYC residents who have had exposure to police and experienced discrimination by the police and courts is poorer than those who have not, and build on a growing body of evidence that aggressive policing practices have implications for public health.
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Integrated strategies of community health promotion (ISCHP) are based on intersectoral collaborations using the Health in All Policies approach to address determinants of health. While effects on health determinants have been shown, evidence on the effectiveness of ISCHP on health outcomes is scarce. The aim of this study is to assess the long-term effects of ISCHP on diabetes mellitus mortality (DMM) in German communities. ⋯ This study provides preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of ISCHP in Germany. Limitations include inaccuracies to classify IG and CG and possible selection bias. Longitudinal county-level data may be an efficient data source to evaluate complex interventions, thereby contributing to further strengthen evidence-based integrated health promotion.