TABLE 3.
Causes and Rates (per 1000 Live Births) of Neonatal and Postneonatal Death Among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) and White Births: National Linked Birth and Infant Death Data, 1985–1987, 1989–1991, and 1995–1997
| 1985–1987 |
1989–1991 |
1995–1997 |
|||||||
| AIAN Rate | White Rate | AIAN-to-White RR | AIAN Rate | White Rate | AIAN-to-White RR | AIAN Rate | White Rate | AIAN-to-White RR | |
| Neonatal Death | |||||||||
| Congenital anomalies | 1.63 | 1.62 | 1.00 | 1.62 | 1.45 | 1.12 | 1.15 | 1.30 | 0.89 |
| Respiratory distress syndrome | 0.59 | 0.56 | 1.05 | 0.42 | 0.44 | 0.97 | 0.29 | 0.22 | 1.32 |
| Other respiratory conditions | 0.51 | 0.52 | 0.99 | 0.50 | 0.38 | 1.33 | 0.13 | 0.26 | 0.49* |
| Short gestation, unspecified low-birthweight-related disorders | 0.60 | 0.48 | 1.25 | 0.45 | 0.49 | 0.91 | 0.56 | 0.49 | 1.15 |
| Complications of cord, membrane, placenta | 0.17 | 0.21 | 0.81 | 0.24 | 0.19 | 1.25 | 0.36 | 0.18 | 1.99** |
| Intrauterine hypoxia, birth asphyxia | 0.24 | 0.20 | 1.20 | 0.24 | 0.12 | 1.97** | 0.10 | 0.12 | 0.81 |
| Infections specific to perinatal period | 0.23 | 0.20 | 1.17 | 0.21 | 0.17 | 1.21 | 0.11 | 0.14 | 0.80 |
| Complications of pregnancy | 0.23 | 0.15 | 1.57 | 0.22 | 0.16 | 1.39 | 0.11 | 0.20 | 0.57 |
| Sudden infant death syndrome | 0.19 | 0.09 | 1.97* | 0.16 | 0.10 | 1.66 | 0.15 | 0.06 | 2.52** |
| Infectious diseases | 0.04 | 0.04 | 1.00 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 3.15*** | 0.06 | 0.05 | 1.02 |
| Maternal conditions | 0.03 | 0.03 | 1.05 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.84 | 0.08 | 0.02 | 3.44* |
| Unintentional injuries and accidents | 0.04 | 0.02 | 2.33 | 0.07 | 0.02 | 2.87* | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.70 |
| Homicide | 0.01 | 0.004 | 3.21 | … | 0.01 | … | … | 0.01 | … |
| All other causes | 0.96 | 0.75 | 1.27 | 0.71 | 0.59 | 1.22 | 0.67 | 0.62 | 1.09 |
| Postneonatal Death | |||||||||
| Sudden infant death syndrome | 2.81 | 1.27 | 2.22*** | 2.73 | 1.31 | 2.09*** | 1.57 | 0.80 | 1.95*** |
| Congenital anomalies | 0.76 | 0.51 | 1.50** | 0.82 | 0.52 | 1.59*** | 0.56 | 0.43 | 1.30 |
| Infectious disease | 1.17 | 0.35 | 3.40*** | 0.94 | 0.27 | 3.44*** | 0.76 | 0.23 | 3.35*** |
| Unintentional injuries and accidents | 0.60 | 0.24 | 2.46*** | 0.70 | 0.24 | 2.87*** | 0.41 | 0.23 | 1.80** |
| Other respiratory conditions | 0.11 | 0.10 | 1.14 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.70 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 1.09 |
| Respiratory distress syndrome | 0.07 | 0.04 | 1.83 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 1.83 | … | 0.02 | … |
| Homicide | 0.14 | 0.03 | 4.58*** | 0.12 | 0.04 | 2.83** | 0.14 | 0.05 | 2.26** |
| Intrauterine hypoxia, birth asphyxia | … | 0.01 | … | … | 0.01 | … | … | 0.01 | … |
| Infections specific to the perinatal period | 0.01 | 0.01 | 1.83 | … | 0.01 | … | 0.01 | 0.01 | 1.67 |
| Short gestation, unspecified low-birthweight disorders | … | 0.01 | … | … | 0.01 | … | 0.01 | 0.01 | 2.18 |
| Complications of cord, membrane, placenta | … | 0.001 | … | … | 0.003 | … | … | 0.003 | … |
| Complications of pregnancy | … | 0.001 | … | … | … | … | … | 0.001 | … |
| Maternal conditions | 0.01 | … | … | 0.03 | 0.001 | 26.0** | 0.01 | 0.001 | 21.77 |
| All other causes | 1.43 | 0.71 | 2.03*** | 1.24 | 0.62 | 1.99*** | 1.26 | 0.56 | 2.26*** |
Note. RR = rate ratio. Ellipses indicate there were no deaths from this cause in this study time period.
*P ≤ .05; **P ≤ .01; ***P ≤ .001, for statistically significant differences in death rates per 1000 live births.