Demographic risk factors for injury among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children: an ecologic analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of neighborhood levels of poverty, household crowding, and acculturation on the rate of injury to Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children.


METHODS
Orange County, California.


METHODS
An ecologic study design was used with census block groups as the unit of analysis. Measures of neighborhood poverty, household crowding, and acculturation were specific to each ethnic group. Poisson regression was used to calculate mutually adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) corresponding to a 20% difference in census variables.


RESULTS
Among non-Hispanic white children, injury rates were more closely associated with neighborhood levels of household crowding (adjusted IRR 2.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22 to 4.57) than with neighborhood poverty (adjusted IRR 1.06, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.26). For Hispanic children, the strongest risk factors were the proportion of Hispanic adults who spoke only some English (compared with the proportion who spoke little or no English, adjusted IRR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.53) and the proportion who were US residents for < 5 years (adjusted IRR 1.20, 95% CI 1.001 to 1.43). Neighborhood levels of household crowding were not related to injury among Hispanic children (adjusted IRR 0.98, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.08), but surprisingly, neighborhood poverty was associated with lower injury rates (adjusted IRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.97).


CONCLUSIONS
Cultural and geographic transitions, as well as socioeconomic differences, appear to contribute to differences in childhood injury rates between ethnic groups.
Anderson
C L
CL
Pediatric Injury Prevention Research Group, Health Policy and Research, University of California, Irvine 92697-5800, USA.
Agran
P F
PF
Winn
D G
DG
Tran
C
C
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003441:Crowding; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011203:Poverty; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*