... affectingpregnancy and women’s health in theUnited States. The NSFG supplements and complements the data from theNational Vital Statistics System onbirths, marriage and divorce, fetal death, and infant ... Child Health and HumanDevelopment, and the Office ofPopulation Affairs, with additionalsupport from the Administration forChildren and Families—all of the U.S.Department of Health and HumanServices. ... 111Uptofourracialgroupscouldbechosen.Respondentswhoidentifiedthemselveswithmorethanoneracialgroupwereaskedtoselectonegroupthat‘‘bestdescribes’’them,andtheRACErecodereflectedthisresponse.Becauseoflimitedsamplesize,Asian,PacificIslander,Alaskannative ,and AmericanIndianwomenwerecombinedandpresentedinthisreportas‘‘Non-Hispanicother’’races.+Comparisonwithbirthcertificatedata—Thedataintable6ofthisreportshowthatfortheyears1991–94,theNSFGestimatesofthenumberofbirthsareveryclosetothebirthcertificatetotals,bothoverall,forindividualyears ,and forbirthstowhitewomen.TheNSFGestimatesaresomewhatlowerforblackwomenandsomewhathigherforwomenof‘‘other’’racesthanthebirthcertificatedata.Thesedifferenceslargely(withinsamplingerror)canceleachotherout.Butthedataintable6suggestthatsomewomenwhoreportthattheyareof‘‘other’’races(AsianorPacificIslander,orAmericanIndianorAlaskannative)inasurveyliketheNSFGmaybeclassifiedaswhiteorblackbyathirdpartyfillingoutabirthcertificate.Inaddition,somewomenwhoidentifywithmorethanoneracialgroupmayidentifythemselvesprimarilywithaparticulargroup,butathirdpartymaynotchoosethatracialgroupifaskedtoclassifythembyrace.Theseissuesdonotappeartoaffectthecomparabilityofthetotalnumberofbirthsbyyearorothercharacteristics,whichshowverygoodagreementbetweentheNSFGandtheregisteredbirths.+InterpretationofdatabyraceandHispanicorigin—DataareshownbyraceandHispanicorigininthetablesbecauseNCHSisfrequentlyaskedtoprovidedataseparatelyforwhite,black,andHispanicwomen.Raceisassociatedwithanumberofindicatorsofsocialandeconomicstatus.Measuresofsocioeconomicstatus(forexample,educationandincome)arenotalwaysavailableforthepointintimewhentheeventbeingstudiedoccurred.Whilecharacteristicssuchaseducationandincomecanchangeovertime,raceandethnicitydonotchangesotheycanbeusedatallpointsintimeasproxiesforsocioeconomicstatus.Differencesamongwhite,black,andHispanicwomeninthephenomenapresentedinthetablesprimarilyreflectthelowerincomeandeducationallevelsofblackandHispanicwomen,theirmorelimitedaccesstohealthcareandhealthinsurance,thecommunitiesinwhichtheylive,andotherfactors(seereference14,tables49,53,81,173).Forsomerecentanalysesofdifferencesinbirthratesbyraceandorigin,seereferences1,15,40 ,and4 1.ReasonsforHIVtest—Allrespondentswhoreportedthattheyhadeverhadtheirbloodtestedforhumanimmunodeficiencyvirus(HIV),thevirusthatcausesAIDS,wereaskedthereasonsfortheirmostrecenttest.Theresponselistwasasfollows:+forahospitalizationorsurgicalprocedure+toapplyforhealthorlifeinsurance+becauseyouwerepregnantorbecauseitwaspartofprenatalcare+justtofindoutifyouwereinfected+becauseofareferralbyadoctor+otherreason(specify)Table86showsthepercentscitingspecificreasons,withthepercentsaddingtomorethan100becausesomewomengavemorethanonereasonfortheirHIVtest.Reasonsforsterilizingoperations—Table54showsreasonsreportedfortuballigations,hysterectomies ,and vasectomies.Foreachofhersterilizingoperations,therespondentwasasked:‘‘NowpleaselookatCardD-3whichlistssomereasonsthatwomensometimesgiveforhavingsterilizingoperations.Whichreasonorreasonsdoyoubelieveareclosesttoyourown?’’Womencouldchoosealloftheapplicableresponsesfromthefollowinglist:+Youhadallthechildrenyouwanted+Yourhusbandorpartneratthetimedidnotwantanymorechildren+Financialreasons,thatis,youcouldnotaffordanotherbaby+Medicalreasons+Reasonsrelatedtobirthcontrol+SomeotherreasonsforsterilizationThosementioning‘‘medicalreasons’’wereasked:‘‘PleaselookatCardD-4.Whichofthesemedicalreasonsdidyouhave?’’Theresponselist,againpermittingallapplicablereasonstobecoded,readasfollows:+Medicalproblemswithyourfemaleorgans+Pregnancywouldbedangeroustoyourhealth+Youwouldprobablyloseapregnancy+Youwouldprobablyhaveanunhealthychild+Someothermedicalreason(specify)Thosementioning‘‘reasonsrelatedtobirthcontrol’’intheoriginalquestionwereasked:‘‘Wasyourmethodofbirthcontroldangeroustoyourhealthordidyounotlikeyourmethodofbirthcontrolforotherreasons?’’Womenreportingmorethanonereasonfortheirsterilizingoperationwereaskedtoidentifytheirmainreason.Reasonsforvasectomies—Womenwereonlyaskedaboutreasonsforvasectomyifhercurrenthusbandorcohabitingpartnerhadhisvasectomyduringtheirrelationship.Thequestionsaskedaboutreasonsforvasectomyweregenerallysimilartothoseaskedforfemalesterilizationoperations.Theexceptionwasthatintheresponselistformedicalreasons,‘‘medicalproblemswithyourfemaleorgans’’wasreplacedwith‘‘HEhadahealthproblemthatrequiredtheoperation.’’Regionofresidence(atinterview)—TheREGIONrecodeclassifiesregionofresidenceattimeofinterviewintothefourmajorcensusregions:Northeast,Midwest,South,andWest.ThesePage112[Series23,No.19...