COMPROMISED BIRTH OUTCOMES AND INFANT-MORTALITY AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC-GROUPS

Citation
Wp. Frisbie et al., COMPROMISED BIRTH OUTCOMES AND INFANT-MORTALITY AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC-GROUPS, Demography, 33(4), 1996, pp. 469-481
Citations number
43
Categorie Soggetti
Demografy
Journal title
ISSN journal
00703370
Volume
33
Issue
4
Year of publication
1996
Pages
469 - 481
Database
ISI
SICI code
0070-3370(1996)33:4<469:CBOAIA>2.0.ZU;2-Z
Abstract
Research based on hospital records demonstrates that many births class ified as normal according to conventional demographic measurement are intrauterine growth-retarded (IUGR) when evaluated clinically; also, i n addition to birth weight and gestational age, it is necessary to foc us on a third dimension, maturity, in analyses of birth outcomes. Alth ough clinical studies allow more precise classification, the small num ber of cases tends to result in unreliable estimates of rates and in l oss of generalizability. The fetal growth ratio, a measure recently sh own to be a valid proxy for maturity is used here to develop a classif ication system based on combinations of weight, gestational age, and m aturity, which we apply in a comparative analysis of a large data set. The results show large differences ill the distribution of compromise d births across racial and ethnic groups, as well as significant race/ ethnic differentials in the risk of infant mortality associated with a dverse outcomes.