Define infant mortality rate

Accurately defining and reporting perinatal deaths (ie, fetal and infant deaths) is a critical first step in understanding the magnitude and causes of these important events. In addition to obstetric health care providers, neonatologists and pediatricians should know the current US definitions and reporting requirements for live births, fetal deaths, and infant deaths. Correct identification of these vital events will improve our local, state, and national data so that these deaths can be better addressed and reduced. Fetal and infant deaths occur within the clinical practice of several types of health care providers. Although obstetric practitioners report fetal deaths, certain situations can occur during a delivery in which viability or possibility of survival is unclear; the pediatrician or neonatologist may attend the delivery to assess the medical condition of the fetus or infant, assess previable gestational age, provide care as indicated, and report a subsequent infant death, if it occurs. Incorrectly defining and reporting fetal deaths and early infant deaths may contribute to misclassification of these important events and result in inaccurate fetal and infant mortality rates. Both the collection and use of information about fetal, infant, and perinatal deaths have been hampered by lack of understanding of differences in definitions, statistical tabulations, and reporting requirements among providers and state, national, and international bodies. Distinctions can ...

life expectancy, estimate of the average number of additional years that a person of a given age can expect to live. The most common measure of life expectancy is life expectancy at birth. Life expectancy is a Life expectancy reflects local conditions. In less-developed countries, life expectancy at birth is relatively low, compared with more-developed countries. In some less-developed countries, life expectancy at birth may be lower than life expectancy at age 1, because of high infant Life expectancy is calculated by constructing a The potential accuracy of estimated life expectancy depends on the completeness of the census and death Demographic Yearbook. Another life expectancy calculation is healthy life expectancy (or disability-free life expectancy), which is the average number of years a person is expected to live in good health, or without disability, given current age-specific mortality rates and disease and disability prevalence rates. Calculation of those figures requires reliable health statistics as well as mortality and census data.

Rationale: Infant mortality represents an important component of under-five mortality. Like under-five mortality, infant mortality rates measure child survival. They also reflect the social, economic and environmental conditions in which children (and others in society) live, including their health care. Since data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases (morbidity data) frequently are unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Infant mortality rate is an MDG indicator. Definition: Infant mortality rate is the probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of one, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of that period. Infant mortality rate is strictly speaking not a rate (i.e. the number of deaths divided by the number of population at risk during a certain period of time) but a probability of death derived from a life table and expressed as rate per 1000 live births. Method of measurement Most frequently used methods using the above-mentioned data sources are as follows: • Civil registration: Number of deaths at age 0 and population for the same age are used to calculate death rate which are then converted into age-specific probability of dying. • Census and surveys: An indirect method is used based on questions to each woman of reproductive age as to how many children she has ever born and how many are still alive. The Brass method and model life tables are then used to obtain an estimat...