228481 Reasons and Circumstances for Perceived Discrimination among New Mothers: 2005 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) Survey

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Shin Margaret Chao, PhD, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Chandra Higgins, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
C. Bemis, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Diana E. Ramos, MD, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Cynthia Harding, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Background: Perceived discrimination has been linked to the health of new mothers. Studies addressing the reasons and circumstances for their perceived discrimination are lacking. We aim to investigate racial disparities in the reasons /circumstances women report feeling discrimination.

Methods: Data is from the 2005 LAMB Survey. LAMB is population-based survey modeled after PRAMS. Perceived discrimination was measured using Krieger's seven-item discrimination scale. We performed multivariate logistic regressions to evaluate the racial disparities in the reasons/circumstances new mothers felt they suffered discrimination while controlling for maternal characteristics.

Results: The responses from 2005 LAMB survey (n=5,211) are weighted to represent all LAC births in 2005. Overall 42% of African American and 41% of Asian American women reported some form of discrimination. When looking at reasons of discrimination, African American women had nearly 5 times (aOR 5.1), Asian women nearly 4 times the odds (aOR 3.9) of reporting discrimination due to color when compared to white women. When looking at situations, African American women reported more discrimination than white women (aOR 1.95) in getting housing. Asian and African American women were slightly more likely to report discrimination when getting a job (aOR 1.47 and 1.43, respectively p<0.05). Women of color were all more likely to report discrimination from the police or courts (aORs 1.79-3.0, p<0.05).

Conclusions: African American and Asian mothers reported high discrimination rates, mostly due to their color. Culturally sensitive strategies are needed to ensure housing and workplace fairness as well as equal access and treatment by police and court officials.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the different types of discrimination women experience most often. Identify specific reasons and circumstances of perceived discrimination and how these differ for women of different races

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Chief Epidemiologist for the Research, Evaluation and Planning Unit
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4236.0: Racial and Ethnic Issues in Maternal and Child Health