Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is an important indicator of social development, reflecting the equitable distribution of basic resources. However, use of a single IMR for a large city obscures variations within the city. A low citywide IMR may hide success in reducing infant deaths in some neighborhoods and failures in others. Tools are needed by public health officials and researchers to rapidly and reliably describe infant mortality in small areas within cities. This article presents a case study demonstrating how geographic information systems (GIS) technology can be used to effectively measure and describe infant mortality for census tracts within Cincinnati. The results show that GIS are effective for measuring the wide variation in infant mortality within the city and communicating the spatial relationships using maps. Furthermore, census tracts with IMRs lower and higher than predicted by socioeconomic characteristics can be identified for special attention.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American College of Physicians. 1997. Inner-city health care. Annals of Internal Medicine 127:485–90.

Columbus Health Department. 1990. Our children, our future … Columbus, OH: Columbus Health Department.

Creighton-Zollar

1993. The social correlates of infant and reproductive mortality in the United States. New York: Garland.

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 1997. Preventing infant mortality. Fact sheet, 1997.02.27. Washington, DC: Author.

Glass

Morgan

Johnson

Noy

Israel

, and Schwartz

. 1992. Infectious disease epidemiology and GIS: A case study of Lye disease. Geographic Information Systems 2:65–69.

Guthe

Tucker

Murphy

England

Stevenson

, and Luckhardt

. 1992. Reassessment of lead exposure in New Jersey using GIS technology. Environmental Research 59:318–25.

Hummer

1993. Racial differences in infant mortality in the U.S.: An examination of social and health determinants. Social Forces 72:529.

Mahan

, and Calica

. 1997. Perinatal loss: Considerations in social work practice. Social Work in Health Care 24 (3/4): 141–52.

McMaster

1988. Modeling community vulnerability to hazardous materials using geographic information systems. Paper presented at the Third International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, Sydney, Australia.

10.

Miles

1985. Helping adults mourn the death of a child. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing 8:219–41.

11.

Minneapolis Planning Department. 1997. State of the city 1997. Minneapolis, MN: City of Minneapolis.

12.

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 1993. Healthy People 2000 review, 1992. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 93-1232-1. Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.

13.

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 1996. Health, United States, 1995. Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.

14.

Ohio Department of Health. 1993. 1992 vital statistics annual report, VITAL-92. Columbus, OH: Office of Health Policy & Analysis.

15.

Rando

1986. The unique issues and impact of the death of a child. In Parental loss of a child, edited by Rando

, 5–44. Champaign, IL: Research Press Co.

16.

Rushton

Krishnamurti

Krishnamurthy

, and Song

. 1995. The spatial relationship between infant mortality and birth defect rates in a U.S. city. Paper presented at the CDC and ATSDR Symposium on Statistical Methods, 25-26 January, Atlanta, GA.

17.

Schoendorf

Hogue

Kleinman

, and Rowley

. 1992. Mortality among infants of black as compared to white college-educated parents. New England Journal of Medicine 3326:1522–26.

18.

Stockwell

, and Goza

. 1996. Racial differences in the relationship between infant mortality and socioeconomic status. Journal of Biosocial Science 28:73–84.

19.

Stockwell

Sorensen

Eckert

, and Carreras

. 1993. The U.S. EPA geographic information system for mapping environmental releases of toxic chemical release inventory (TRI) chemicals. Risk Analysis 13:155–64.

20.

Wagner

1988. Infant mortality in Europe: Implications for the United States: Statement to the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality. Journal of Public Health Policy 9:473–84.

21.

Wartenberg

1992. Screening for lead exposure using a geographic information system. Environmental Research 59:310–17.

22.

Wartenberg

Agamennone

Ozonoff

, and Berry

. 1989. A microcomputer-based vital records database with interactive graphic assessment for states and localities. American Journal of Public Health 79:1531–36.

23.

Wells

1996. Assisting parents when a child dies in the ICU. Critical Care Nursing 16 (1): 58–62.

24.

World Health Organization (WHO). 1995. World health statistics annual 1994. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

25.

Yoder

1994. Comfort and consolation: A nursing perspective on parental bereavement. Pediatric Nursing 20:473–77.

Mapping Disparity in Infant Mortality: Using Technology to Describe the Local Dimensions of Infant Deaths

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References