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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 1998, there were 443 (232 fetal and 211 neonatal) perinatal
deaths in Arkansas, as well as 36,831 live births. The Perinatal Mortality
Rate = (443 / (36,831 + 232)) X 1,000 = 12.0 per 1,000 live births plus fetal
deaths. Nationally, the perinatal mortality rate has been 7.9 for 1994, 7.6
for 1995, 7.4 for 1996, and 7.3 for 1997.
It should come as no surprise; the counties with the highest rates are somewhat
scattered around the state, although there appears to be one small cluster of
three counties in the eastern central 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.
ADH Management Area 7 had the highest five-year average rate at 15.4, followed
by Area 6 at 14.8. The lowest average rates were in Area 11 with a rate of
10.4 and Area 1 with a rate of 10.8.
Once again, there are significant racial differences for this indicator. The
perinatal mortality rate for Whites for the five-year period from 1994-1998
was 10.6. For Blacks, it was much higher at 19.9.
Perinatal mortality reflects a combination of fetal and neonatal mortality,
so one would expect to find that the 1994-1998 perinatal mortality trends show
similar year-to-year fluctuations as the neonatal and fetal rates. However,
although the fetal rates show a continuing decline from 1996 forward, the
neonatal rates have actually increased, although not significantly.
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