Lake County Highlights
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Throughout the 1990-2003 period, the infant mortality rate (IMR) in
Lake County has been higher than the IMR in Indiana, whereas the
race-specific rates are almost the same in Lake County and in the State.
This is mainly due to the fact that the proportion of blacks among live
births is higher in Lake County (31.8% in 2003) than in the State (10.8%
in 2003), and the overall IMR is significantly higher among blacks (10.9
deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 in Lake County) compared to whites
(6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 in Lake County).
(Table 7,
Table 27,
Figure 66,
Figure 67)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR in Lake County declined
significantly by 17.8 percent among all races combined (from 10.8 to 8.9
deaths per 1,000 live births), by 21.0% among whites (from 8.3 to 6.6
deaths per 1,000 live births), and by 22.8 percent among non-Hispanic
whites. However, the 15.3 percent decline in IMR among blacks (from 16.0
to 13.5 deaths per 1,000 live births) and 19.1 percent decline among
Hispanics did not reach statistical significance.
(Table 31,
Figure 68)
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In 1999-2003, the IMR among blacks in Lake County was 13.5 deaths
per 1,000 live births, 118 percent higher than the rate of 6.2 among
non-Hispanic whites and 78 percent higher than the rate of 7.6 among
Hispanics.
(Table 31,
Figure 68)
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The majority of infant deaths occurred during the neonatal period
(<28 days). Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the neonatal mortality
rates declined more among blacks (by 25.3%) than among whites (10.9%),
whereas postneonatal (28-364 days) mortality declined noticeably among
whites (by 39.5%) but not among blacks. None of these differences,
however, reached statistical significance.
(Table 31,
Figure 69)
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The IMR declined among both female and male infants. The male
infants, however, had a consistently higher IMR than female infants,
regardless of race.
(Table 32,
Table 33,
Table 34)
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There was a downward trend in IMR of low birth-weight (LBW) infants
(<2,500 grams) among both whites and blacks in Lake County, whereas the
IMR of normal birth-weight (NBW) infants (≥2,500 grams) fluctuated over
the last several years.
(Table 29,
Table 30,
Figure 70,
Figure 71)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR of LBW infants declined
significantly among whites (by 38.6%) but not among blacks (by 25.1%).
The IMR of very low birth-weight (VLBW) infants (<1,500 grams) declined
during this period but was not statistically significant. The IMR of NBW
infants declined by 18.8 percent (not significant) among whites but
remained unchanged among blacks.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 72,
Figure 73,
Figure 74)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR of preterm infants (<37
weeks of gestation) declined among whites as well as among blacks, but
the change was statistically significant only among whites. The IMR of
term infants (≥37 weeks of gestation) declined among whites (not
significant) but not among blacks. The infant mortality rates, however,
were consistently higher among blacks compared to whites for both
preterm and term births.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 75,
Figure 76)
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Infants born to teenage mothers (<20 years of age) had a higher IMR
than infants born to adult mothers (≥20 years of age) among whites but
not among blacks. The racial gap in IMR, however, was persistent among
both age groups.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 77)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR among infants born to white
mothers 20 years of age and older with less than 12 years of education
declined by 38.3 percent. However, the difference was not statistically
significant due to the small number of births and deaths in this
category. Among blacks, the number of infant deaths in this category in
1999-2003 was not enough to establish a stable mortality rate.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 78)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR among infants born to
mothers 20 years of age and older with more than 12 years of education
declined by 26.3 percent among whites and by 38.6 percent among blacks.
However, the differences were not statistically significant due to the
small number of births and deaths in these categories. Blacks had a
consistently higher IMR than whites, regardless of maternal level of
educations.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 78)
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Throughout the 1990-2003 period, the infant mortality rates were
higher among infants born to unmarried mothers than among infants born
to married mothers, with a persistent racial disparity in IMR among both
married and unmarried mothers.
(Table 29,
Table 30,
Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 79)
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The infant mortality rates were higher among infants born to women
who received adequate plus/intensive care and inadequate care than among
infants born to women who received adequate care. Between 1990-1994 and
1999-2003, the IMR declined significantly among white mothers who
received adequate plus care (by 41.5%) but not among black mothers (by
11.4%).
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 80)
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Throughout the 1990-2003 period, the IMR among infants born to
mothers who smoked during pregnancy has been higher than the IMR among
non-smoking mothers for both races.
(Table 29,
Table 30,
Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 81)
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Between 1990-1994 and 1999-2003, the IMR among infants born to black
mothers increased (by 8.5%) from 17.4 to 18.9 deaths per 1,000 live
births among smokers and decreased (by 18.3%) from 15.7 to 12.8 among
non-smokers, whereas among whites, the IMR declined among both smokers
and non-smokers. None of the above changes in the IMR were statistically
significant.
(Table 33,
Table 34,
Figure 81)
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