Do racial inequities in infant mortality correspond to variations in societal conditions? A study of state-level income inequality in the U.S., 1992–2007

Siddiqi, Arjumand; Jones, Marcella K.; Bruce, Donald; Erwin, Paul Campbell

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.013

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Among the US Black population both adult (15) and infant mortality is relatively high. In 2013 the infant mortality rate for Black Americans was 11.2 (out of 1000 live births) while the same statistic for White Americans was just 5 (16). The US is an interesting context for other reasons too; a lack of universal health-care insurance, and a limited welfare state with less parental leave and poorer access to high-quality child care, increases the wealth divide further.…”

Section: Sheppard and Monden (9) Used Three Waves From The Survey Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-examining the benefits of becoming a grandparent: No evidence of positive associations in the United States and England.

Sheppard¹,

Monden²

2019

Preprint

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Despite positive associations between active grandparenting and well-being, little evidence so far suggests that the transition to grandparenthood increases well-being. We extend previous work from Europe, where weak effects were found, in two ways. First, kin effects are likely to be context-dependent and differ by the type and generosity of the welfare state, and by mortality rates. Second, it may be that the grandparent derives more benefits from the grandchild as young child than a new-born or infant. We retest this hypothesis with longitudinal data from the US and England. Both these studies follow people for a longer time so we further test whether effects of grandparenting emerge later after the birth of the grandchild. We found no evidence for these hypotheses in either setting, with the exception of English women who reported higher subjective life expectancy after becoming a grandmother. These largely null findings have implications for theories of grandparenting.

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Section: Sheppard and Monden (9) Used Three Waves From The Survey Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-examining the benefits of becoming a grandparent: No evidence of positive associations in the United States and England.

Sheppard¹,

Monden²

2019

Preprint

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“…Studies of regional variation may help us to better understand the heterogeneity of the Black birth experiences in the United States and may provide new insights into sources of excess Black IMR. Previous studies have focused on the sources of the Black-White disparity [2][3][4][5], which can be lower by virtue of high White versus low Black IMR [6], and limited in the provision of Black-specific contextual information as they are often dominated by the characteristics of the larger White community [5]. Studies that have examined Black infant mortality either alone or in addition to White infant mortality have suggested associations with various contextual factors within social, economic, environmental, and health domains but none have examined their contribution to regional variation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional variation in Black infant mortality: The contribution of contextual factors

et al. 2020

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Background Compared to other racial/ethnic groups, infant mortality rates (IMR) are persistently highestamong Black infants in the United States, yet there is considerable regional variation. We examined state and county-level contextual factors that may explain regional differences in Black IMR and identified potential strategies for improvement. Methods and findings Black infant mortality data are from the Linked Birth/Infant Death files for 2009-2011. State and county contextual factors within social, economic, environmental, and health domains were compiled from various Census databases, the Food Environment Atlas, and the Area Health Resource File. Region was defined by the nine Census Divisions. We examined contextual associations with Black IMR using aggregated county-level Poisson regression with standard errors adjusted for clustering by state. Overall, Black IMR varied 1.5-fold across regions, ranging from 8.78 per 1,000 in New England to 13.77 per 1,000 in the Midwest. In adjusted models, the following factors were protective for Black IMR: higher state-level Black-White marriage rate (rate ratio (RR) per standard deviation (SD) increase = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI):0.70-0.95), higher state maternal and child health budget per capita (RR per SD = 0.96, 95% CI:0.92-0.99), and higher county-level Black index of concentration at the extremes (RR per SD = 0.85, 95% CI:0.81-0.90). Modeled variables accounted for 35% of the regional variation in Black IMR. Conclusions These findings are broadly supportive of ongoing public policy efforts to enhance social integration across races, support health and social welfare program spending, and improve economic prosperity. Although contextual factors accounted for about a third of regional

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“…The historical and perpetuated oppression of Blacks in the US has resulted in a society stratified by race—a social, cultural, and political classification [ 3 ]—and a system of unequal access to resources and opportunities [ 4 , 5 ]. Research is beginning to highlight the importance of this harmful social context (the macro-level conditions shaped by historical and contemporary policy), as a determinant of health and health inequities [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The persistence of disproportionately high Black infant mortality rates underscores the need to think more broadly about underlying causes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Look at the Whole Me”: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Black Infant Mortality in the US through Women’s Lived Experiences and Community Context

Wallace

Green²,

Richardson

et al. 2017

IJERPH

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In the US, the non-Hispanic Black infant mortality rate exceeds the rate among non-Hispanic Whites by more than two-fold. To explore factors underlying this persistent disparity, we employed a mixed methods approach with concurrent quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Eighteen women participated in interviews about their experience of infant loss. Several common themes emerged across interviews, grouped by domain: individual experiences (trauma, grieving and counseling; criminalization); negative interactions with healthcare providers and the healthcare system; and broader contextual factors. Concurrently, we estimated the Black infant mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births) using linked live birth-infant death records from 2010 to 2013 in every metropolitan statistical area in the US. Poisson regression examined how contextual indicators of population health, socioeconomic conditions of the Black population, and features of the communities in which they live were associated with Black infant mortality and inequity in Black–White infant mortality rates across 100 metropolitan statistical areas with the highest Black infant mortality rates. We used principal components analysis to create a Birth Equity Index in order to examine the collective impact of contextual indicators on Black infant mortality and racial inequity in mortality rates. The association between the Index and Black infant mortality was stronger than any single indicator alone: in metropolitan areas with the worst social, economic, and environmental conditions, Black infant mortality rates were on average 1.24 times higher than rates in areas where conditions were better (95% CI = 1.16, 1.32). The experiences of Black women in their homes, neighborhoods, and health care centers and the contexts in which they live may individually and collectively contribute to persistent racial inequity in infant mortality.

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Do racial inequities in infant mortality correspond to variations in societal conditions? A study of state-level income inequality in the U.S., 1992–2007

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

Re-examining the benefits of becoming a grandparent: No evidence of positive associations in the United States and England.

Re-examining the benefits of becoming a grandparent: No evidence of positive associations in the United States and England.

Regional variation in Black infant mortality: The contribution of contextual factors

“Look at the Whole Me”: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Black Infant Mortality in the US through Women’s Lived Experiences and Community Context

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