5262.0: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - Board 1

Abstract #6179

Determinants of the survival gap between the infants of educated black and white mothers in the US

Jacob Adetunji, Sociology Department, Bowling Green State University, 208 Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, (419) 372-9523, adetunj@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Although infant mortality rates have declined among all racial groups over the past 40 years in America, African American infants are still twice as likely to die before their first birthday as infants of white mothers. Evidence in the literature suggests that the gap between the survival rate of infants of educated white and black mothers are widening over time. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether this is true and if so what factors are important in explaining the divergence.

DATA: The 1995 Linked Births and Infant Deaths Data set was analyzed. The logistic regression technique was used to assess the effects of the various determinants with and without controlling for the effects of possible confounding variables.

FINDINGS: The result confirms that the survival gap between infants of college-educated white and black mothers has increased over time. The multivariate result shows that much (about 50%) of the black-white gap in infant mortality among children of college educated women is explained by birth-weight differences. After controlling for two other variables (multiple births and adequacy of prenatal care), the odds ratio declined from 2.69 to 1.25.

It is therefore concluded that a higher than expected prevalence of low birth weight among infants of college educated black mothers is an important explanation for the lower than expected survival rates among their infants.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, the participant in this session should be able to: 1. Recognize the widening gap in the risk death among infants of college educated white and black mothers in the US 2. Assess the contribution of differential prevalence of low birth weight, multiple births and inadequacy of prenatal care to the widening survival gap

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.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA