Data opportunities for studying the sexual and reproductive health of immigrants in the United States

Abstract

This paper aims to identify, review, and evaluate publicly available national-and local-level data sources that collect information on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of immigrants in the United States. We review public-use sources from the last 30 years that include information on immigration, SRH, health service utilization, and race/ ethnicity. For each source, we evaluated the strengths and challenges of the study design and content as they relate to studying immigrant SRH. We identified and reviewed 22 national and seven local sources. At the national level, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the National Survey of Family Growth contained the most information; at the local level, the New York City Community Health Survey was the most robust. These sources present opportunities to advance research, improve public health surveillance, and inform policies and programs related to the SRH of this rapidly growing and often underserved population.