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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Dean E. Robinson, PhD, Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Policy and Administration, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Thompson Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, 413-545-2438, deanr@polsci.umass.edu and Jill Fromewick, MS, Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115.

In the current era of “New Federalism”, states have increased discretion over policies that impact the health of its citizens and health disparities between groups. Research shows that state contexts matter for health outcomes, however, state variation has not been fully accounted for by variables that have thus far been included in models, highlighting the fact that additional state-level contextual factors should be considered. While researchers contend that many social determinants of health have political antecedents, relationships between politics and health have gone largely unexplored. The goals of this project are to examine: 1) state variations in infant mortality and the black-white infant mortality ratio, and how these patterns have changed over time; 2) whether state political ideology accounts for state differences in infant mortality; and 3) whether the relationship between state political ideology and infant mortality has changed over time. To quantify these relationships, we are conducting two sets of analyses using multilevel analytic methods, which are well-suited to the hierarchical structure of our data. We will fit a 3-level multilevel model (individuals nested within counties within states) to determine the effects of state government ideology, county demographic factors, and individual characteristics on infant mortality. Next, we will fit a 2-level multilevel model to describe how infant mortality within states changed over time (17 years) and how states' trajectories of change vary by state government ideology. Preliminary results show that state politics is associated with infant mortality and should be considered as an important contextual variable in future research.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe how infant mortality rates and racial disparities in infant mortality have changed over time and vary between states.
• Recognize links between state politics, state policies, social determinants of health at the state-level, and infant mortality rates.
• Determine when it may be appropriate to use multilevel analytic methods.

Keywords: Infant Mortality, Politics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered