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Abstract
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Topics:
community, health disparity, pregnancy in adolescence, trend, voice, infant mortality
In this issue of Pediatrics, Woodall et al examine long-term trends of mortality for infants of teens by race/ethnicity, urbanicity, and maternal age from 1996-1997 to 2018-2019.1
The study also estimates the contribution of changes in the maternal age distribution and maternal age-specific infant mortality rates to differences in infant deaths.
The key finding in this study is that the decline in infant mortality rates among teen parents was significant across racial/ethnic and urbanization subgroups; however, mortality rates did not change significantly for infants of Black or Hispanic teens residing in rural counties. The authors conclude that additional research into the contextual factors in rural counties that are driving the lack of progress for infants of Black and Hispanic teens may help inform future efforts to advance health equity.
The consequences of unintended teen pregnancy range from contributing to infant mortality and associated racial disparities to the future economic potential of generations of families.2 As such, unintended teen pregnancy reduction remains an important public health priority. Opportunities exist to conduct additional research around the persistent racial disparity found in this study, as the authors indicate. ...
Language: en |