Mortality Before and After Border Wall Construction Along the US–Mexico Border, 1990–2017

Bibliographic Data

ID11023641
AuthorsJoseph Dov Bruch (0000-0003-0458-2899, Joseph Dov Bruch is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Ozlem Barin is with the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Atheendar S. Venkataramani is with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics,...), Ozlem Barin (Joseph Dov Bruch is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Ozlem Barin is with the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Atheendar S. Venkataramani is with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics,...), Atheendar S Venkataramani, Atheendar Venkataramani (0000-0002-7612-8903, Joseph Dov Bruch is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Ozlem Barin is with the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Atheendar S. Venkataramani is with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics,...), Zirui Song (0000-0002-1042-1162, Joseph Dov Bruch is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Ozlem Barin is with the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Atheendar S. Venkataramani is with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics,...)
Year2021
Volume111
Issue9
Pages1636-1644
Publication date2021-09-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2021.306329
PMID34197717
OpenAlexW3175713007
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

Objectives. To evaluate changes in mortality in US counties along the US–Mexico border in which there was substantial new border wall construction after the Secure Fence Act of 2006 relative to border counties in which there was no such border wall construction. Methods. Using complete 1990 to 2017 mortality microdata and a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design, we evaluated changes in overall (all-cause) mortality, mortality from drug overdose, and mortality from homicide in the 10 counties with substantial new border wall construction and 11 counties with no such construction. We fit a linear model, adjusting for population characteristics and county and year fixed effects, with Bonferroni adjustments for multiple comparisons. Sensitivity analyses included the addition of adjacent inland counties and modifications to the statistical model. Results. Relative to counties without substantial new border wall construction, counties in which a substantial amount of new border wall was constructed exhibited a nonsignificant 0.02-percentage-point increase (95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.06, 0.10; P > .99) in overall mortality after construction. Border wall construction was not associated with changes in either deaths from overdose or deaths from homicide. Conclusions. Wall construction along the US–Mexico border after the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was not associated with discernible changes in mortality

Census · Confidence interval · Environmental health · Fence (mathematics) · Geography · Homicide · Injury prevention · Microdata (statistics) · Mortality rate · Poison control · Population · Demography · Global Health Workforce Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Mathematics · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access