BACKGROUND: Teen childbearing is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for both mothers and children. Rapid repeat births (RRB), defined as subsequent births within 24 months of the previous birth, pose greater challenges to teen mothers’ ability to attend school and obtain job experience, as well as higher health risks for the infants because of closely spaced births. In order to support local intervention efforts in Clark County, Nevada, we described trends and analyzed predictors of rapid repeat births (RRB) among teens in Clark County during 2010-2013.
METHODS: Teens having their first live birth in 2010-2011 were identified from birth certificate data. Their records were then linked to subsequent birth records within 24 months by maternal identifiers (name, social security number, date of birth) using Link Plus. Teen birth rates during 2010-2013 by age, race/ethnicity, and zip code were calculated to describe trends. Logistic regression analyses was used to identify predictors of RRBs among teens, using mother’s race/ethnicity, age, enrollment in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program during pregnancy, marital status, birth country, and father’s completion of paternity paperwork. Statistical significance was considered if p<0.05.
RESULTS: Teen birth rates declined for all age and race/ethnic groups in Clark County, Nevada, during 2010-2013. However, teen birth rates among non-Hispanic blacks (53.4/1,000) and Hispanics (42.1/1,000) were much higher than non-Hispanic whites (12.2/1,000). The 3 zip codes that had the highest teen birth rates were all in the socially vulnerable areas. Among teens having their first child in 2010 and 2011, 17% had rapid repeat births. Teens had almost twice the odds of having rapid repeat births if they were non-Hispanic blacks (AOR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.4-3.0) or Hispanics (AOR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.3-2.5) compared to non-Hispanic whites (11.5% RRB). Teens having had a termination prior to their first birth had 1.5 times the odds (AOR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1-2.2) of having a rapid repeat birth compared to teens reporting no previous termination (16.8% RRB).
CONCLUSIONS: Work remains to be done to prevent teen births and address disparities among teen RRB in Clark County. There are proven, effective interventions including linkage of teens to home visitation programs for the prevention of teen pregnancy and RRB that should be considered in addressing this important public health problem in Clark County, Nevada.