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Postneonatal Mortality Rate                                              
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
Postneonatal mortality, like neonatal mortality, is a subset of infant mortality. Postneonatal      
mortality is defined as those infant deaths in which the infant is more than 27 days and less       
than one year of age.  Of the 312 infant deaths occurring in Arkansas in 1999, 125 (roughly         
40 percent) were postneonatal deaths.                                                               
                                                                                                    
While neonatal deaths frequently arise out of conditions originating in the prenatal period,        
postneonatal deaths are more likely to reflect the socio-economic conditions of the home            
(e.g. quality of care and nutrition), as well as infectious diseases and other causes.              
                                                                                                    
The Postneonatal Mortality Rate is conceptually very similar to the Infant and Neonatal             
Mortality Rates.  Consequently, the calculations are quite comparable.  The Postneonatal            
Mortality Rate = (125 / 36,672) X 1,000 = 3.4 postneonatal deaths per 1,000 live births.            
The U.S. rate in 1999 was 2.3 postneonatal deaths per 1,000 live births.                            
                                                                                                    
The map indicates that the counties with high postneonatal mortality rates are relatively           
scattered.  It should be noted that there are several counties with high postneonatal rates         
and low neonatal rates or vice verse.  Such situations may warrant further investigation.           
                                                                                                    
Chicot County had the highest postneonatal mortality rates, with 9.5 postneonatal deaths            
per 1,000 live births.  The counties with the lowest rate (0.0) each had two or fewer               
postneonatal deaths in the entire five-year period.  This may be as much a reflection of the        
relatively small populations as a commentary on the health conditions of those counties.            
                                                                                                    
For the time period from 1995-1999, the Southeast region had the highest average                    
postneonatal mortality rate at 4.6, while the Northwest region had the lowest average rate          
at 2.7.                                                                                             
                                                                                                    
As with the infant and neonatal mortality rates, postneonatal mortality rates differ                
significantly by race.  The average postneonatal mortality rate for Whites was 2.9.  For            
Blacks, the rate was 5.9.                                                                           
                                                                                                    
The postneonatal mortality rate decreased slightly, though not significantly, from 3.5 in           
1998 to 3.4 in 1999.                                                                                
                                                                                                    
The U.S. postneonatal mortality rate, like the neonatal mortality rate, has been declining          
steadily.  In 1999, the rate declined slightly from 2.4 in 1998 to 2.3 in 1999.                     
 
 
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