Fertility in adolescent women and social inequalities in Mexico, 2015Fecundidade entre adolescentes e desigualdades sociais no México, 2015

• Published in: Revista panamericana de salud pública 2018, Vol.42, p.e99
• Main Authors: Gómez, Oswaldo Sinoe Medina, González, Karina Ortiz
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• ISSN: 1680-5348; 1680-5348
• DOI: 10.26633/RPSP.2018.99

To determine the association between teenage pregnancy and socioeconomic factors and to estimate social inequalities among adolescents in Mexico in 2015. A study involving women from 15 to 19 years of age was conducted using data from birth records for 2015. The fertility rate was determined and disaggregated by quintiles for each socioeconomic variable. Absolute and relative measures of inequality were estimated; negative binomial regression analysis was used to obtain risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The fertility rate was 73.21 births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 years in Mexico. Coahuila was the state with the highest birth rate (99.3 per 1000 adolescents). A statistically significant association was found between fertility rate and the gap in access to health services, especially in quintile 5 (risk ratio [RR] = 45.68), whereas a greater association with the gap in education was found in quintile 4 (RR = 27.36). No significant differences were found in terms of the gap in access to social security. Marginalization and poverty are significantly associated with teenage pregnancy and fertility rate. However, wide inequalities exist among the different social groups, making it necessary to implement actions geared towards promoting measures to improve the social, political, and economic environment.