US infant mortality and the President's party.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infant mortality rates in the US exceed those in all other developed countries and in many less developed countries, suggesting political factors may contribute.

Methods

Annual time series on overall, White and Black infant mortality rates in the US were analysed over the 1965-2010 time period to ascertain whether infant mortality rates varied across presidential administrations. Data were de-trended using cubic splines and analysed using both graphical and time series regression methods.

Results

Across all nine presidential administrations, infant mortality rates were below trend when the President was a Democrat and above trend when the President was a Republican. This was true for overall, neonatal and postneonatal mortality. Regression estimates show th

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4052132 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature