Determinants of changes in infant mortality of Delaware over the period from 1989 to 2000
| Author(s) | Li, Bin | |
| Date Accessioned | 2020-08-06T12:34:11Z | |
| Date Available | 2020-08-06T12:34:11Z | |
| Publication Date | 2005 | |
| Abstract | Infant mortality is one of the important health problems in the world. Delaware’s infant mortality rate (IMR) is above the average level of U.S. and after a decrease in the middle of 1990’s, it has increased since 1995. The purpose of this paper is to describe the determinants of infant mortality in Delaware from 1989 to 2000 and to find out the changes of the effect factors on infant mortality during the IMR declining period (1989-1992) and IMR increasing period (1997-2000). ☐ Previous studies on infant mortality have identified some factors on infant mortality, including infant, maternal and paternal characteristics, and environmental, social and political conditions. More specifically, researches looked at birth weight, birth interval, birth order, gender, income, and mother’s age, race, education, residence, marital status and etc. ☐ According to my data resource and the reviews of previous literatures, I choose three groups of variables in my models, attributes of the baby (birth weight, infant gender, liver birth order and plurality of birth), attributes of the mother (mother’s race, mother’s marital status, age of mother and mother’s education) and attributes of pregnancy (whether smoked during pregnancy, gestational age, prenatal visits). A two-equation system from Holman et al’s study on Arkansas infant mortality is used in this thesis. Birth weight is used as intervening variable to link a linear regression model on birth weight to a logistic regression models on infant mortality (total infant mortality, neonatal mortality and post neonatal mortality). Then I will get direct, indirect and total effects on infant mortality. Differences and changes between the early period (1989-1992) and the later period (1997-2000) are examined using a dummy variable approach. ☐ The results show that infant birth weight is the most significant determinant of infant mortality, especially to infant death occurring at the early stage of birth (27 days). Most of the influences of other variables on infant mortality are indirect through birth weight (at the 0.10 level or smaller level). First born babies having highly educated mother who didn’t smoke during pregnancy are highly related to lower chance of death in the first year of life. Comparing with the early period, older mothers, less education, smoking and lack of prenatal visits are contributed to the increasing infant mortality rate in the later period. | en_US |
| Advisor | Ilvento, Thomas W. | |
| Degree | M.S. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Applied Economics and Statistics | |
| Unique Identifier | 72688996 | |
| URL | https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/27366 | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/304993215?accountid=10457 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Infants -- Mortality -- Delaware | |
| Title | Determinants of changes in infant mortality of Delaware over the period from 1989 to 2000 | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |