title: Health Literacy in Unauthorized Mexican Immigrant Mothers and Risk of Developmental Delay in their Children.
abstract: The incidence of developmental delay and early intervention (EI) service utilization is not well documented among unauthorized Mexican immigrants, a vulnerable population. Individual interviews were conducted in Spanish with Mexican born women receiving maternal health care. Children 12-60 months of age were screened for developmental delay using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. 12 % (n = 8) of children assessed (n = 65) were at risk for developmental delay. Of those at risk 38 % (n = 3) participated in EI. An additional 26 % of the children (n = 17) qualified for further monitoring, and of those 59 % (n = 10) received EI. Women with low health literacy had more than four times the odds of having a child with risk of developmental delay (aOR 4.4; 95 % CI 1.3-15.4). Developmental delay was associated with low maternal health literacy in unauthorized Mexican immigrants; however, rates of self-reported EI use in this population are higher than those seen nationally.
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Stockton University, 101 Vera King Farris Dr., Galloway, NJ, 08205, USA. Robin.hernandez-mekonnen@stockton.edu.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8141-869X
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Mekonnen
authors.affiliation: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Elise K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Duggan
authors.affiliation: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Leonel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oliveros-Rosen
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Marsha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerdes
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Stanton
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wortham
authors.affiliation: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ludmir
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D000069756:Undocumented Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Child development; Health literacy; Immigrants; Urban