Community Assessment Data
A Guide to Understanding the Well-Being of Children & Families in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Infant Mortality

CHARTS

Infant Mortality for 1996 to 2000 by Municipality

Infant Mortality for 1996 to 2000 by County

Infant Mortality for 1996 to 2000 by City


MEASUREMENT

Figures on infant mortality by municipalities¹ and births by municipalities² are from the PA Health Department as is the information on municipalities in Erei County. Information on the City of Erie, Erie County, PA & USA in addition to the information by race is from the Erie County Department of Health.³ The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths to infants (under the age of one) divided by the number of births for that year, and multiplied by 1,000.

State data was provided by the Bureau of Health Statistics and Research, Pennsylvania Department of Health. Local data was provided by the Erie County Department of Health, Erie County Vital Statistics Database and Health Care Cost Summit – Health Status Indicators Project. These entities specifically disclaim responsibility for any analyses, interpretations or conclusions.

DESCRIPTION

Infant mortality, deaths to children under one year of age, is a readily available and widely used indicator of a county’s general child health status. Since the first year of life is more precarious than later years of childhood, negative social conditions (such as poverty or an unhealthy environment) have a large impact on this vulnerable group. Communities where there is a confluence of several problems, such as poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy, tend to have higher infant mortality rates.

DATA ANALYSIS

• Although the infant mortality rate for Erie County was 4.3% lower than the US rate in 2000, the rate for the City of Erie was 68.1% higher than the US rate.
• Erie County has the highest rate among Urban Third Class Counties yet Wilkes-Barre had a higher rate than the City of Erie during 2000.
• The numbers of infant deaths per year in Erie County and the City of Erie are small when divided by race and therefore should be interpreted with extreme caution; the rate of infant mortality for Black infants in Erie County and the City of Erie are much higher than those of Pennsylvania or the US.

FOOTNOTE

¹ Resident Infant Deaths by Age, Sex, Race, Year, and County. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health//dtxmyr12.pdf.

² Resident Live Births by Month of Birth, County, and MCD. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/brxbf46p.pdf.

³ Infant Mortality Rates. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2003, from http://www.ecdh.org/documents/Infant%20Mortality.pdf.