Trends of Social Inequalities in the Specific Causes of Infant Mortality in a Nationwide Birth Cohort in Korea, 1995–2009.
10.3346/jkms.2017.32.9.1401
- Author:
Mia SON
1
;
Soo Jeong AN
;
Young Ju KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Trends of Social Inequalities;
Cause-specific Infant Mortality;
Maternal Education;
Paternal Education;
Maternal Employment;
Paternal Employment
- MeSH:
Birth Weight;
Cause of Death;
Classification;
Cohort Studies*;
Education;
Employment;
Gestational Age;
Humans;
Infant;
Infant Death;
Infant Mortality*;
Infant*;
Infant, Newborn;
Korea*;
Maternal Age;
Parents;
Parturition*;
Poisoning;
Proportional Hazards Models;
Social Class;
Socioeconomic Factors*
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2017;32(9):1401-1414
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The relationship between social disparity and specific causes of infant mortality has rarely been studied. The present study analyzed infant mortality trends according to the causes of death and the inequalities in specific causes of infant mortality between different parental social classes. We analyzed 8,209,836 births from the Statistics Korea between 1995 and 2009. The trends of disparity for cause-specific infant mortality according to parental education and employment were examined using the Cox proportional hazard model for the birth-year intervals of 1995–1999, 2000–2004, and 2005–2009. Adjusted hazard ratios were calculated after adjusting for infants' gender, parents' age, maternal obstetrical history, gestational age, and birth weight. An increasing trend in social inequalities in all-cause infant mortality according to paternal education was evident. Social inequalities in infant mortality were greater for “Not classified symptoms, signs and findings” (International Classification of Diseases 10th revision [ICD-10]: R00–R99) and “Injury, poisoning and of external causes” (S00–T98), particularly for “Ill-defined and unspecified causes” (R990) and “Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)” (R950); and increased overtime for “Not classified symptoms, signs and findings” (R00–R99), “Injury, poisoning and of external causes” (S00–T98) and “Conditions in perinatal period” (P00–P96), particularly for “SIDS” (R950) and “Respiratory distress syndrome of newborns (RDS)” (P220). The specific causes of infant mortality, in particular the “Not classified causes” (R00–R99 coded deaths) should be investigated more thoroughly to reduce inequality in health.
