In this paper, "linked birth/infant death" records of over 23 million singletons belonging to six birth cohorts (1989-1991 and 1995-1997) are examined to study the effects of birthweight, mother's race and their interactions on infant mortality and cause-specific rates in the United States using logistic and multinomial logit regression analyses. Results show that, compared to whites, unadjusted differentials in the odds of infant death are diminished for blacks, exacerbated for American Indians, and reversed for Hispanics, when the effects of birthweight, and mother's age and marital status are taken into account. Differences in the odds of death from disorders relating to short gestation and unspecified low birthweight, congenital anomalies, respiratory distress syndrome, and sudden infant death syndrome explain much of the racial variation in the odds of infant death. Decreases in the odds of dying from these causes also contribute to the improvement in the chances of survival in the recent cohorts. The relative survival disadvantage of black infants persists only among normal-weight babies. Among very-low-birth-weight and moderately-low-birth-weight infants, there is a relative advantage for blacks compared with whites, and the relative disadvantage is greatly reduced for American Indians. This relative survival advantage of black infants is offset by the fact that they have higher frequency of low birthweight. Learning Objectives: From the sensitivity analysis, the participant will gain insights into how much reduction in the cause-specific infant mortality rates would be required to achieve the goals of infant survival for a given race or birthweight subgroup under different scenarios.
Learning Objectives: From the sensitivity analysis, the participant will gain insights into how much reduction in the cause-specific infant mortality rates would be required to achieve the goals of infant survival for a given race or birthweight subgroup under different scenarios.
Keywords: Infant Mortality,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.