A McCarthy1, P Kirke. 1. Child Health Epidemiology Unit, Health Research Board, Dublin, Ireland. amccarthy@hrb.ie
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The association of poor childhood socioeconomic circumstances with increased infant mortality rates (IMR) makes IMR a useful public health index. We analysed Irish trends for 1984-2005. METHODS: All-cause IMR and all-cause IMR stratified by SEG were calculated and plotted. Tests of trend were computed. RESULTS: In 22 years, there were 1,217,014 births; 8,212 infants died. IMR per live births declined from 9.6 to 3.7 per 1,000 (P < 0.001). This decline was observed among all SEG categories, but was much lower among infants whose guardian had 'Unknown' SEG. CONCLUSIONS: The overall secular decline in IMR is welcome, and where available, the trends were similar among SEGs. However, as almost half the deaths occurred in infants with a guardian with SEG 'Unknown'. A uniform SEP classification system, record linkage and monitoring data collection could assist in improving the data quality required to further reduce IMR in Ireland.
BACKGROUND: The association of poor childhood socioeconomic circumstances with increased infant mortality rates (IMR) makes IMR a useful public health index. We analysed Irish trends for 1984-2005. METHODS: All-cause IMR and all-cause IMR stratified by SEG were calculated and plotted. Tests of trend were computed. RESULTS: In 22 years, there were 1,217,014 births; 8,212 infants died. IMR per live births declined from 9.6 to 3.7 per 1,000 (P < 0.001). This decline was observed among all SEG categories, but was much lower among infants whose guardian had 'Unknown' SEG. CONCLUSIONS: The overall secular decline in IMR is welcome, and where available, the trends were similar among SEGs. However, as almost half the deaths occurred in infants with a guardian with SEG 'Unknown'. A uniform SEP classification system, record linkage and monitoring data collection could assist in improving the data quality required to further reduce IMR in Ireland.