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Perinatal Mortality Rate
Perinatal mortality is the sum of fetal deaths and neonatal deaths.
Since the causes of fetal and neonatal deaths are frequently so
similar, it is appropriate to think of fetal and neonatal deaths as
each being manifestations of the same underlying conditions. Many
authorities feel that the perinatal mortality rate is preferable to
either the fetal or neonatal mortality rate. Therefore, collapsing the
two indicators together may lessen errors resulting from either
deliberate or inadvertent misclassification into one category or the
other.
The Perinatal Mortality Rate is calculated in the same manner as the
fetal death rate. In 2001, there were 462 (291 fetal and 171 neonatal)
perinatal deaths in Arkansas, as well as 36,982 live births. The
Perinatal Mortality Rate = (462 / (36,982 + 291)) X 1,000 = 12.4 per
1,000 live births plus fetal deaths. Nationally, the perinatal
mortality rate has dropped one point each year since 1996 (7.4) to 2001
(6.9)
It should come as no surprise that the counties with the highest rates
are somewhat scattered around the state, although the majority appears
to be in the southeastern area of the state. It would be wise to
remember, however, that the county rates are based on very small
numbers of events, even when using five years of data.
Once again, the Southeast Public Health Region had the highest five-
year average rate at 16.8, and the Northwest region had the lowest
average rate of 9.7.
There are significant racial differences for this indicator. The
perinatal mortality rate for Whites for the five-year period from 1997-
2001 was 10.0. For Blacks, it was much higher at 20.5.
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