Mapping Geographic Variation in Infant Mortality and Related Black-White Disparities in the US.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In the US, black infants remain more than twice as likely as white infants to die in the first year of life. Previous studies of geographic variation in infant mortality disparities have been limited to large metropolitan areas where stable estimates of infant mortality rates by race can be determined, leaving much of the US unexplored.

Methods

The objective of this analysis was to describe geographic variation in county-level racial disparities in infant mortality rates across the 48 contiguous US states and District of Columbia using national linked birth and infant death period files (2004-2011). We implemented Bayesian shared component models in OpenBUGS, borrowing strength across both spatial units and racial groups. We mapped posterior estimates of mortality

SUBMITTER: Rossen LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5378167 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature