Registration Completeness and International Comparisons of Infant Mortality

The physical development of the live born infant is the single most important variable governing its survival: infant mortality among those weighing 2,500 grams (5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth is 17 times the mortality among those weighing more than 2,500 grams at birth. The variation in mortality according to birth weight (or gestation) is greater than for subclasses of color, sex, maternal age, or birth order. Infant mortality in the United States is significantly higher than in a number of other countries e.g., Sweden, Netherlands, Norway. The difference is thought, by some, to be due to underregistration of low birth weight infants in other countries. In this paper, distributions of live births by birth weight for Denmark, England and Wales, New Zealand, and the United States, and infant mortality data for Denmark and the United States are examined. The data do not support a hypothesis of gross underregistration of live born infants in other countries. The results indicate that some index of physical development (birth weight, gestation, or a combination of both) should be included in any appraisal of infant mortality

Completeness (order theory · Environmental health · Geography · Infant mortality · Population · Sociology · Statistics · Demography · Global Health Care Issues · Global Maternal and Child Health · Health disparities and outcomes · Mathematics · Medicine

• The position of the United States in international comparisons of health status

  Helen C Chase•American Journal of Public Health•1972

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• Black-White Differentials in Infant Mortality in the South, 1940–1970

  Open Access•E H Shin•Demography•1975

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• Infant and Perinatal Mortality

  Edward R Schlesinger•American Journal of Public Health…•1967

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