Racial disparities in African American and white infant mortality United States and Wisconsin, 1980 to 1998

Infant mortality is a powerful indicator for assessing the health of a population, and the extent to which society invests in its children. This paper examines infant mortality trends in the United States and Wisconsin among the African American and white populations from 1980 to 1998. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics and Wisconsin Birth and Infant Death Reports were used to examine overall infant mortality trends from 1980 to 1998 for African American and white infants. The overall infant mortality rate in Wisconsin decreased steadily from 10.3 infant deaths per 1000 live births in 1980 to 7.2 in 1998. White infant mortality followed this trend, declining from 9.6 in 1980 to 5.6 in 1998. African American infant mortality has remained about the same since 1980 at 18 infant deaths per 1000 live births, even though the overall percentage of African American live births in Wisconsin increased from 6% in 1980 to 10% in 1998. The ratio of African American to white infant mortality rates in Wisconsin increased from 2 to 1 in 1980 to 3.2 to 1 in 1998. While the Wisconsin African American infant mortality rate remained even since 1980, the US rate declined from 22.2 in 1980 to 14.1 in 1998. The Wisconsin African American rate in 1998, 17.9, surpassed the national rate. The use of 5-year running averages to smooth out year-to-year fluctuations showed statistically significant declines in Wisconsin white infant mortality rates and no change in Wisconsin African American infant mortality rates. These trends show the importance for Wisconsin to sustain its current efforts to reduce black infant mortality. At the same time, Wisconsin-based research efforts to determine strategies and factors that work should continue and influence the future design of systems, programs, and policies to eliminate the disparity.