Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2026

Breakfast Habits among Schoolchildren in the City of Uruguaiana, Brazil
Published on: July 29, 2020
[Patterns of variation in the infant mortality rate in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil: comparison of empirical
Sabrina Letícia Couto da Silva1, Jandyra Maria Guimarães Fachel, Sergio Kakuta Kato
1Programa de Pós-graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil. sassalelenash@yahoo.com.br
Abstract:
Infant mortality is considered a sensitive health indicator, and knowledge of its geographical profile is essential for formulating appropriate public health policies. Disease mapping aims to describe the geographical distribution of disease incidence and mortality rates. Due to the heavy instability of crude rates in small areas, methods involving Bayesian smoothing of rates are used, drawing on information for the whole area or neighborhood to estimate the event rate. The current study compares empirical Bayesian (EB) and fully Bayesian (FB) methods for infant mortality rates (accumulated data from 2001 to 2004) in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. This study highlights the advantages of Bayesian estimators for viewing and interpreting maps. For the problem at hand, EB and FB methods showed quite similar results and had the great advantage of easy use by health professionals, since they evenly highlight the main spatial patterns in the mortality rate in the State during the target period.
Related Concept Videos
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
Parametric Survival Analysis: Weibull and Exponential Methods
Weibull Distribution
The Weibull distribution is a flexible model used in parametric survival analysis. It can handle both increasing and decreasing hazard rates, depending on its shape parameter...
Assumptions of Survival Analysis
Applications of Life Tables
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Relative Risk
