In my research, I analyze trends in population health. I apply a Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) perspective and am particularly interested in the extent to which environmental shocks experienced by an entire society (e.g., period effects) influence outcomes at both ends of the life course: fertility and mortality. In my work, I identify the health consequences of policy changes, institutional practices, and large public health crises and also reveal how these trends either exacerbate or equalize existing health inequalities.
I've published on these, and other, topics in peer-reviewed journals such as: Demography, PNAS, American Journal of Epidemiology, Population Research and Policy Review, Biodemography and Social Biology, and International Journal of Epidemiology.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Tilstra*, Andrea M., Iliya Gutin*, Nathan Dollar, Richard G. Rogers, and Robert A. Hummer. (Accepted) “‘Outside the Skin’: The Persistence of Racial Disparities in Early Life Mortality.” Demography. *Co-lead authorship
Aburto*, José Manuel, Andrea M. Tilstra*, Ginevra Floridi, Jennifer Beam Dowd. (2022) “Significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on race/ethnic differences in USA mortality.” PNAS. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2205813119 *Co-corresponding authorship
Houle, Brian, Chodziwadziwa W. Kabudula, Andrea M. Tilstra, Sanyu A. Mojola, Enid Schatz, Samuel J. Clark, Nicole Angotti, F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé, Jane Menken. (2022) “Twin epidemics: the effects of HIV and systolic blood pressure on mortality risk in rural South Africa, 2010-2019.” BMC Public Health 22 (387). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12791-z
Tilstra, Andrea M. (2022) “Tilstra Responds.” American Journal of Epidemiology (Forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab257
Tilstra, Andrea M., Daniel H. Simon, and Ryan K. Masters. (2021) “Trends in “Deaths of Despair” among Working Aged White and Black Americans, 1990-2017.” (Online First). American Journal of Epidemiology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab088
Rogers, Richard G., Robert A. Hummer, Andrea M. Tilstra, Elizabeth M. Lawrence, and Stefanie Mollborn. (2020) “Family Structure and Early Life Mortality in the United States.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(4):1159-1177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12674.
Tilstra, Andrea M., and Ryan K. Masters. “Recent Trends in Obstetric Practices, Gestational Age, and U.S. Birth Weight.” Demography 57:99–121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00843-w
Braudt, David B., Elizabeth M. Lawrence, Andrea M. Tilstra, Robert A. Hummer, and Richard G. Rogers. (2019) “Associations between Early Life Mortality and Socioeconomic Status in the 21st Century United States.” Maternal and Child Health Journal, 23(10), 1382-1391.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02799-0
Tilstra, Andrea M. (2018) “Estimating Educational Differences in Low-Risk Cesarean Section Delivery: A Multilevel Modeling Approach.” Population Research and Policy Review 37(1): 117-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-017-9452-2.
Masters, Ryan K., Andrea M. Tilstra, and Daniel H. Simon. (2018) “Explaining Recent Mortality Trends among Younger and Middle Aged White Americans.” International Journal of Epidemiology 47(1): 81-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyx127.
Rogers, Richard G., Elizabeth M. Lawrence, Robert A. Hummer, and Andrea M. Tilstra. (2017) “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Early Life Mortality in the United States.” Biodemography and Social Biology 63(3): 189-205.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19485565.2017.1281100.
Masters, Ryan K., Andrea M. Tilstra, and Daniel H. Simon. (2017) “Mortality from Suicide, Chronic Liver Disease, and Drug Poisonings among Middle-Aged U.S. White Men and Women, 1980-2013.” Biodemography and Social Biology 63(1): 31-37. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19485565.2016.1248892.