SUMMARY
The Brownsville-Matamoros Sister City Project (BMSCP) was designed to develop and evaluate a system to collect standardized reproductive health and chronic disease surveillance data from mothers of live-born infants along both sides of the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border. Such data are critical for public health programming and decision-making, yet are lacking for this large and rapidly growing population. The BMSCP is in its final evaluation year and preliminary results are promising. With modest resources and strong partnerships, we are hopeful that these surveillance methods can be implemented in sister cities along the US-Mexico border.
Methods (2002-2005)
From 2002 through 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and staff from the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College established partnerships in Cameron County and Matamoros , and developed the protocol with the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Association (USMBHA). The questionnaire was designed to address Healthy Border 2010 objectives. Measures were borrowed from existing survey instruments and further shaped by partner feedback and focus group discussions with local women.
The pilot was conducted between August and November of 2005. Five hundred new mothers were sampled prior to hospital discharge in each community. We employed a systematic, random sampling schedule that was staggered by hospital for interviewing convenience . Women who had a live birth during each 48 hour sampling period were eligible to participate. Women who spoke a language other than English or Spanish, or experienced a miscarriage, fetal, or infant death were excluded. Interviewers and field coordinators were hired, trained, and supervised by the USMBHA. The Texas State Department of Health Services, Region 11, and the Secretary of Health, Tamaulipas provided logistical support.
Evaluation (2006)
Hospital participation was 100% and approximately 95% of women sampled completed the interview. The data collection and data management processes, data quality, and sample representativeness are currently being assessed by CDC and partners and are expected to be completed by September 2006.
FUNDING AND SUPPORT
The project has been funded by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion's Division of Reproductive Health and Office of Global Health Promotion. Texas Department of State Health Services and the Mexican Secretariat of Health, Tamaulipas provided in-kind support for data collection and have responsibility for evaluation activities. Additional key collaborators include, the National Center of Health Statistics, CDC; University of Texas, Brownsville, and Texas Southmost College; United States-Mexico Border Health Association; Offices of Border Health; Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Tamaulipas; Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado , Tamaulipas; and the City of Brownsville Department of Public Health .
Project Coordinator: Susie Villalobos
villalos@usmbha.org
