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

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.

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