Social, Economic, and Biologic Correlates of Infant Mortality in City Neighborhoods

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which low infant birth weight intervenes in associations between infant mortality and social and economic characteristics of populations residing in Cleveland neighborhoods. This objective was achieved by applying hierarchical multiple regress...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health and social behavior 1980-03, Vol.21 (1), p.2-11
Main Author: Brooks, Charles H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Health
Humans
Illegitimacy
Infant
Infant Mortality
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Infant/Infants/Infancy (see also Baby)
Infants
Low birth weight
Low income
Low income families
Mathematical independent variables
Mortality
Mortality (see also Death, Dying)
Neighborhood/Neighborhoods
Ohio
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomics
Statistical variance
Urban (see also Ru/Ur)
Urban Health
Vivipary
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which low infant birth weight intervenes in associations between infant mortality and social and economic characteristics of populations residing in Cleveland neighborhoods. This objective was achieved by applying hierarchical multiple regression analysis to a proposed causal ordering of variables in which racial composition and low family income were hypothesized to relate directly to illegitimacy and low-birth-weight ratios, which, in turn, were postulated to directly influence neonatal and postneonatal rates. The analysis showed that racial composition and low-family-income levels of neighborhoods almost perfectly predicted illegitimacy ratios; that racial composition and illegitimacy highly predicted low-birth-weight ratios; and that neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates were strongly determined by low-birth-weight levels. These findings suggest why, despite the dramatic decline in infant mortality in the past century, many studies undertaken in Western Europe and the United States still continue to show a strong inverse relationship between indices of social class and infant loss.
ISSN:0022-1465
DOI:10.2307/2136689