Do gender and race/ethnicity influence acute myocardial infarction quality of care in a hospital with a large Hispanic patient and provider representation?

Background. Disparities in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) care for women and minorities have been extensively reported in United States but with limited information on Hispanics. Methods.

Changing trends in the prevalence and disparities of obesity and other cardiovascular disease risk factors in three racial/ethnic groups of USA adults.

Objectives. To examine trends in the prevalence and disparities of traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among the major race/ethnic groups in the USA: non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs), and Mexican Americans (MAs). Methods.

Does the epidemiologic paradox hold in the presence of risk factors for low birth weight infants among Mexican-born women in Colorado?

Objectives: To test whether foreign-born status confers a protective effect against low birth weight (LBW) outcomes among Mexican-origin women in Colorado.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study utilizing Colorado birth records from 1989-2004 for multivariate logistic regression analysis. The study population was 66,422 U.

Women's education level, maternal health facilities, abortion legislation and maternal deaths: a natural experiment in Chile from 1957 to 2007.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the main factors related to maternal mortality reduction in large time series available in Chile in context of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Methods: Time series of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from official data (National Institute of Statistics, 1957-2007) along with parallel time series of education years, income per capita, fertility rate (TFR), birth order, clean water, sanitary sewer, and delivery by skilled attendants were analysed using autoregressive models (ARIMA). Historical changes on the mortality trend including the effect of different educational and maternal health policies implemented in 1965, and legislation that prohibited abortion in 1989 were assessed utilizing segmented regression techniques.

Stagnant in cardiovascular prevention: alarming trends and persistent socioeconomic obstacles.

Recently it has been suggested that the decline in cardiovascular mortality observed over the last 50 years may be coming to an end. This alarming trend, which has been noted mainly in younger adults from lower socioeconomic strata, may be linked to other changes, namely the increasing prevalence of modifiable risk factors, the most important of which is obesity. In contrast, our ability to predict cardiovascular risk continues to improve steadily, although it is unclear which will be its ability in designing more effective global preventive measures.

Early life and adult socioeconomic influences on mortality risk: preliminary report of a 'pauper rich' paradox in a Chilean adult cohort.

Purpose: The inverse relationship between early life and adult socioeconomic measures and mortality risk has been well established in developed countries, but remains practically unexplored in Latin American societies. The setting was Chile; the study included 11,600 adults living in the urban center of San Francisco de Mostazal. This was a prospective cohort study of a weighted random sample of 795 subjects followed up during 8 years.