This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

J. David Erickson, PhD; Tor Bjerkedal, MD

JAMA. 1982;247(7):987-991.

Abstract
Relative to the countries of northern Europe, the United States has a high crude infant mortality rate. We compared the United States' fetal and infant mortality rates with those of Norway, a nation that is internationally recognized for having a low infant mortality. Norwegian birth-weight-specific rates were applied to the US birth populations, yielding adjusted rates. The adjusted rates, which are the crude rates that would have resulted in the United States if the Norwegian birth-weight-specific rates had been in force, were generally higher than the US rates that were actually observed. Thus, the major reason for the United States' poor international rank is probably its unfavorable birth-weight distributions, and any major improvement in the United States' international standing will likely await a reduction in the proportion of high-risk, low-weight births.

(JAMA 1982;247:987-991)

Author Affiliations
From the Chronic Diseases Division, Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta (Dr Erickson), and the Institute of Hygiene, University of Oslo (Dr Bjerkedal).

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Chronic Disease Division, Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Erickson).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Birth Weight and Perinatal Mortality: A Comparison of the United States and Norway
Wilcox et al.
JAMA 1995;273:709-711.
ABSTRACT  

Race- and Rank-Specific Infant Mortality in a US Military Population
Rawlings and Weir
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1992;146:313-316.
ABSTRACT  

Trends in Postneonatal Mortality in the United States: 1962 Through 1978
Khoury et al.
JAMA 1984;252:367-372.
ABSTRACT  

Lethal Congenital Anomalies as a Cause of Birth-Weight--Specific Neonatal Mortality
Goldenberg et al.
JAMA 1983;250:513-515.
ABSTRACT  

A Model for Studying the Pathogenesis and Incidence of Low-Birth-Weight Infants
Miller
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1983;137:323-327.
ABSTRACT