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Show Figure 4 I Q_ 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 Percent Low Birthweight (< 2500 g): Utah Medicaid Births, 1985-89 Salt Lake County Weber County Balance of State 85-87 86-88 Three-year Moving Average 87-89 Even within the Medicaid population, Weber County's infant death rate was higher than the other two study populations. For 1989 Medicaid births, the infant death rate for Weber County residents was 14.4 per 1,000, Salt Lake County 12.1, and the balance of the state 7.8. (Aside from any insufficiency of Medicaid coverage, infant mortality was very high for Weber County residents who were covered by Medicaid.) Along with mortality, low birth weight was also examined. The percentage of Medicaid births under 2500 grams increased in Weber county over the 1985-1989 period, while the low-birth weight percentages declined for Medicaid births in both Salt Lake County and the balance of the state, as shown in Figure 4. Trends which perhaps reflect this excess of low-birthweight babies in Weber County can be seen in the analysis of the mix of Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) classifications for Medicaid births during the study period. The DRGs used to classify in-patient Medicaid births are listed in Table 2. Table 2 Code Description 385 Neonates, Died or Transferred 386 Extreme Immaturity, Neonate 387 Prematurity With Major Problems 388 Prematurity Without Major Problems 389 Full-Term Neonate With Major Problems 390 Neonates With Other Significant Problems 391 Normal Newboms 128 INFANT MORTALITY |