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SUID, congenital defects rising among black neonates
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Although rates of infant mortality have declined since 2005, this progress has not been upheld by black infants, with an increase noted between 2014 and 2015, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
“Infant mortality rate is an important indicator of population health,” Corrine A. Riddell, PhD, from the department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health at McGill University, and colleagues wrote. “A 2017 report from the United States CDC reported that the infant mortality rate in the U.S. decreased by 15% in the past decade.”
To determine if there was a disparity between white and black children within the decrease observed by the CDC, the researchers abstracted data on both live births and deaths for non-Hispanic black and white infants within the first year of life.
Data were collected from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System from 2005 to 2015, and the number of deaths were divided by the number of births according to race and ethnicity, year and cause of death. The rates for the top four causes of death were then calculated. Excess events for black infants was determined by calculating the absolute difference between the rates.
Between 2005 and 2012, rates of infant mortality decreased from 14.3 to 11.6 per 1,000 births for non-Hispanic black infants. However, the rates stagnated and increased from 11.4 to 11.7 per 1,000 births between 2014 and 2015.
The rates for white infants decreased steadily from 5.7 to 4.8 per 1,000 over the entire analyzed time. Compared with these numbers, excess events equate to nearly 4,000 additional deaths among 589,047 black infants if they had the same death rate as white infants.
In the past year, rates of sudden infant death syndrome and congenital malformations have been rising among black infants, whereas increases in deaths due to short gestation and low birth-weight have plateaued.
“No single cause appears solely responsible for the recent increase in black infant mortality, and in many instances, some arbitrariness exists in the single cause that is assigned,” Riddell and colleagues wrote. “Interventions to further reduce the rate of preterm birth among black infants appear the most promising option for reducing black infant mortality and the absolute inequality between black and white infants.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosure: The researchers provide no relevant financial disclosures.
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