182121 Comparing infant mortality determinants among New England states and evaluating needs of prenatal programs in New Haven, CT

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Richa Sharma , School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Kate Ittleman , School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Jorge Cruz , School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Liza Zolot , School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
The purpose of this project is to explore infant mortality rates in Connecticut in comparison to other New England states and understand how the rates are associated with social factors, such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and maternal education. The infant mortality rate in CT is 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is less than the national average of 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, yet CT is only ranked 21st in the nation. The hypothesis is that disparities exist because of the large socioeconomic heterogeneity within the state of CT. A quantitative and qualitative approach will be taken to address this problem. Publicly available data on infant mortality from all the New England states will be researched and analyzed to observe trends and determine common risk factors. The qualitative analysis will consist of interviews with professionals and community programs specializing in prenatal care in New Haven, CT to determine gaps in preexisting programs. Given Connecticut's economic prosperity, our goal is to reconcile the disparities in infant mortality that exist across racial and social strata in this state. The conclusion of this project will involve making policy recommendations to improve prenatal access and delivery of care in New Haven, CT.

Learning Objectives:
Our objective is to relay information regarding the current infant mortality status in CT, describe our analysis of CT's position in comparison to other New England states in terms of determinants of infant mortality, and ultimately discuss our findings from key-informant interviews with pre-existing prenatal care program directors to assess needs which may be contributing to CT's high infant mortality rates and the disparity of rates among socioeconomic and racial minorities in the state. We hope to share the recommendations that we will develop for the city of New Haven that may be applicable to other cities of similar resources and demographics.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am one of the co-investigators of this study. I am a Master's student at Yale School of Public Health and our team has been keenly studying this topic and gathering data.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Interesting topics in Maternal Child Health
See more of: Maternal and Child Health