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Hysterectomy prevalence by Hispanic ethnicity: evidence from a national survey
Kate M Brett1, Jenny A Higgins
1Division of Epidemiology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Md 20782, USA. kbrett@cdc.gov
Objectives:
We investigated hysterectomy prevalence among Hispanic women.
Methods:
We obtained data from 4684 Hispanic women and 20 604 non-Hispanic White women from the 1998-1999 National Health Interview Survey. We calculated nationally representative odds ratios of previous hysterectomy, controlling for confounders.
Results:
Compared with non-Hispanic White women, the odds ratio for hysterectomy was 0.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30, 0.44) for Hispanic women with no high school diploma, 0.57 (95% CI = 0.44, 0.74) for high school graduates, and 0.67 (95% CI = 0.42, 0.87) for college attenders. Country of origin had little influence on hysterectomy prevalence. Hysterectomy was positively associated with acculturation.
Conclusions:
Hispanic women undergo fewer hysterectomies than do non-Hispanic White women. The reasons for this, as well as information on ethnicity-specific appropriateness of hysterectomy, should be explored.