Multi-level Drivers of Disparities in Hispanic Cesarean Delivery Rates in US-Mexico Border States

Hispanic women living along the US-Mexico border have higher cesarean delivery rates than non-Hispanic white women, African American women, and other Hispanic women in the USA. Their rates also exceed those of other Hispanic women in states that border Mexico and non-Hispanic white women along the border. Our objective was to determine the causes of the disparities in border Hispanic cesarean rates.

Using the 2015 birth certificate file and other sources, we performed a twofold Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis of the disparities in low-risk primary and repeat cesarean rates between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women in the US-Mexico border counties and Hispanic women residing in nonborder counties of border states.

Rates of low-risk primary cesarean among border Hispanic, nonborder Hispanic, and border non-Hispanic white women were 21.1%, 15.0%, and 16.5%, respectively. Higher Hispanic concentration in county of residence, a larger proportion of for-profit hospital beds, and greater poverty accounted for 24.7%, 22.1%, and 11.1% of the border-nonborder Hispanic difference, respectively. No other variable explained more than 5% of the difference. Higher Hispanic concentration, more for-profit beds, less attendance by an MD, higher BMI, and greater poverty explained 60.6%, 42.4%, 42.4%, 27.4%, and 21.3%, respectively, of the Hispanic-non-Hispanic white difference. Hispanic concentration and for-profit beds were also important explanatory variables for low-risk repeat cesareans.

Efforts to address potentially unnecessary cesareans among Hispanic women on the border should recognize that community demographic and health delivery system characteristics are more influential than maternal medical risk factors.