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Show MORTALITY Infant ] Deaths Table 15 (Rates per 1,000 Resident Live Births) Year Utah US Year Utah us Year Utah US Year Utah US 1950 23.9 29.2 1961 20.2 25.3 1972 13.4 18.5 1983 8.7 11.2 1951 24.9 28.4 1962 20.0 25.3 1973 12.7 17.7 1984 9.1 10.8 1952 24.9 28.4 1963 18.6 25.2 1974 12.2 16.7 1985 9.6 10.6 1953 24.0 27.8 1964 20.2 24.8 1975 13.1 16.1 1986 8.5 10.4 1954 20.8 26.6 1965 18.8 24.7 1976 11.7 15.2 1987 8.8 10.1 1955 20.6 26.4 1966 18.3 23.7 1977 10.0 14.1 1988 8.0 9.9 1956 22.9 26.0 1967 16.7 22.4 1978 11.4 13.8 1989 8.0 9.7 1957 21.5 26.3 1968 17.7 21.8 1979 10.7 13.1 1990 7.4 9.1 1958 22.2 27.1 1969 15.8 20.9 1980 10.4 12.6 1991 6.2 *8.9 1959 20.0 26.4 1970 15.0 20.0 1981 9.8 11.9 1960 19.7 26.0 1971 13.9 19.1 1982 11.0 11.5 ?Provisional data Source: Utah Department of Health, Division of Health Care Resources, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics. (1992). Utah's Vital Statistics Annual Report 1989 (Report No. 148). Salt Lake City: Author, p. 2. Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics. (1992). Utah's Vital Statistics Summary (Report No.164). Salt Lake City: Author. Figure 12____________________________________________________________________________________ Infant Deaths Utah --------------US 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 Infant deaths per 1,000 live births has been decreasing for both Utah and the U.S. since 1950 (Table 15). The graph (Figure 12) shows this downward trend to be fairly consistent over time, with Utah remaining lower than the nation. Increased education of new mothers and better pre-natal care may explain the consistently downward trend in infant deaths for Utah as well as for the nation. Table 16 Infant Deaths by Race (Deaths per 1,000 live Births) Utah1 US Year White Black White Black 1980 10.4 25.5 11.0 21.4 1983 9.2 8.2 9.7 19.2 1986 8.5 8.2 8.9 18.0 1989 7.0 12.4 8.2 17.7 'Utah rates are based on a three-year average. Source: Utah - Utah Department of Health, Division of Community Health Services. Unpublished Reports. United States Bureau of the Census. (1992). Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1992 (112th ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 80 Infant death rates are indicative of the overall health status of a community. Generally, disparities between racial and ethnic groups indicate the extent to which there are health care needs not met within the community. Race-specific infant mortality rates are hard to interpret in Utah because of the relatively small populations of minorities. From 1980 to 1989 Utah's and the national death rates per 1,000 live births for Whites were similar, with Utah slightly lower than the nation (Table 16). But for Blacks the numbers are much different In 1980 Utah had a death rate of 25.5 per 1,000 live births among Blacks compared to 21.4 for the U.S. Utah had a sharp decrease in Black infant deaths between 1980 and 1983 through 1986, but then increased to 12.4 in 1989. The U.S. average has slowly decreased over the period examined. The wide variation in Utah's rate probably reflects the problem of using small populations in statistical comparisons. But the statistics do suggest that there are substantial differences in the rate by race. 16 HEALTH STATUS |