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Infant Mortality Rate
The Infant Mortality Rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of
age per 1,000 live births. This measure is perhaps the most important and
widely used indicator of mortality among infants. Not only is the infant
mortality rate a measure of deaths of infants, it is also an excellent gauge
for the overall health of a community, as it is associated with a wide range
of social and economic factors.
The infant mortality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths to
infants under the age of 365 days occurring in a year by the number of births
occurring in that same year, and multiplying by 1,000. There were 337 infant
deaths and 36,356 live births in Arkansas in 1996. The Infant Mortality Rate
= (337 / 36,356) X 1,000 = 9.3 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The
preliminary infant mortality rate for the United States in 1996 was 7.2.
The map indicates that infant mortality varies around the state. Counties
with high infant mortality rates appear to be scattered. The counties with
the highest average infant mortality rates for the 1992-1996 period are
Van Buren, with an average rate of 19.4, and Madison, with an average rate of
17.5. The counties with the lowest average rates (Calhoun, Cleveland,
Montgomery, and Perry) are excellent examples of the limitations of the data.
Infant mortality rates are based on a small number of cases, only about one
percent of all live births. These particular counties had only one or two
infant deaths in the entire five-year period from 1992 through 1996. This
results in very unstable rates. Therefore, great care must be taken in
drawing any conclusions based upon small numbers, especially when comparing
rates for individual counties.
One technique for dealing with the small numbers problem is to aggregate the
data over several years. Another technique is to add several counties
together to form larger units. The ADH Health Management Areas are one such
aggregation. For the 1992-1996 period, the infant mortality rates ranged from
a high of 13.5 in Area 9 to a low of 7.8 in Area 3.
Infant mortality rates vary tremendously by race. Between 1992 and 1996 the
average Arkansas rate was 14.3 for Blacks versus 8.3 for Whites.
The Arkansas infant mortality rate, which has shown a steady decline since
1992 from a high of 10.4 to 1995's low of 9.0, posted a slight, statistically
insignificant, increase in 1996 to 9.3. It must be cautioned that even when
dealing with data for the entire state for a full year, infant mortality rates
are subject to considerable year-to-year variation and what appear to be major
changes may not be statistically significant. An example may serve to
illustrate the problem. In order for a rise in the infant mortality rate to
be statistically significant, the 1996 statewide rate of 9.3 would have to
increase to almost 10.3.
Nationally, the infant mortality rate has experienced a long-term decline,
dropping from 20.0 in 1970 to a record low of 7.2 in 1996.
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