Prenatal care use among selected Asian American groups.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the predictors of 3 patterns of prenatal care use (no care, late initiation of care, and inadequate use after early initiation) for 4 Asian American ethnic groups in the United States.


METHODS
Single live births to US resident mothers of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese ancestry (n = 273 604) were selected from the 1992-1996 US natality files. Logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of maternal characteristics on the 3 use measures.


RESULTS
Korean Americans and Vietnamese Americans had the lowest levels of prenatal care use. Young or single motherhood, high parity for age, and low educational attainment were the main risk factors for low use.


CONCLUSIONS
Considerable variability exists in prenatal care use among Asian American ethnic groups.
Yu
S M
SM
Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Office of Data and Information Management, Rockville, Md 20857, USA. syu@hrsa.gov
Alexander
G R
GR
Schwalberg
R
R
Kogan
M D
MD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D007723:Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D016015:Logistic Models; D009309:National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000208:ethnology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology