Mortality at the county level in the USA-Mexico and USA-Canada border regions

Melanie Joerger; Onofre  Alves Simões

doi:10.21670/ref.2402138

Authors

Melanie Joerger Independent researcher https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0244-3838
Onofre Alves Simões Universidade de Lisboa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9129-3499

Keywords:

county mortality, USA-Mexico border, USA-Canada border, hispanic paradox, single indices

Abstract

The areas near a country border have interesting demographics since they are the zones where two cultures collide. The USA has two long land borders with Canada and Mexico. Mortality between 1999-2019 is examined at the county level in the two border regions, compared to the non-border regions of the border states. Analysis is based on single figure indices, with combinations of confounders age, gender and cause of death. Findings confirm differences between border and non-border regions, with opposite results at each border. As far as is known there is no previous mortality study concerning both borders and therefore the contribution of the work is to demonstrate the differences between the border and non-border regions for the two borders and discuss possible reasons. Further, we show that the more detailed analysis at the county level, even with certain data limitations, gives important insights to the topic.

Resumen

Las áreas cercanas a la frontera de un país tienen una demografía interesante ya que son las zonas donde chocan dos culturas. Estados Unidos tiene dos largas fronteras terrestres con Canadá y México. Se examina la mortalidad entre 1999 y 2019 a nivel de condado en las dos regiones fronterizas, en comparación con las regiones no fronterizas de los estados fronterizos. El análisis se basa en índices, con combinaciones de factores como edad, sexo y causa de muerte. Los resultados confirman diferencias entre regiones fronterizas y no fronterizas y entre fronteras. Hasta donde se sabe, no existe un estudio previo de mortalidad en ambas fronteras y así la contribución del trabajo es demostrar las diferencias entre las regiones fronterizas y no fronterizas para las dos fronteras y discutir las posibles razones. El análisis más detallado a nivel de condado, incluso con ciertas limitaciones de datos, brinda información importante sobre el tema.

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