• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.197-206
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• 2015

Objectives : This study presents comparison results of the correlations between ODA grants and health indicators among 23 countries in Asia. Methods : Data from 2005~2013 were collected through the World Development Indicator (WDI) provided by the World Bank (WB). The health-related variables used in this study included the maternal mortality ratio, infant mortality rate under five, infant mortality rate, incidence of tuberculosis, and prevalence of AIDS. Results : Based on the results, there were positive correlations between ODA grants and health indicators, which means that the overall ODA grants would drop when the health indicators improved. As for differences in the health indicators by income groups among the countries, there were differences in the maternal mortality ratio, infant mortality rate under five, infant mortality rate, and overall ODA grants. The maternal mortality ratio, infant mortality rate under five, and infant mortality rate were lower in the order of upper middle, lower middle, and poorest income countries. Conclusions : The findings raise a need for the integrated and horizontal development of Goals 4, 5 and 6 of MDGs in the ODA projects of health sector in the future.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2015

Background: This study investigates the relationship of socioeconomic status with adverse birth outcomes (low birth weight, preterm birth) and the relationship of socioeconomic status with infant mortality, using the birth cohort in Korea, 1995-2010. Methods: 8,648,035 births from National Statistics Offics, 1995-2010 were studied with respect to social variation in adverse birth outcomes and infant mortality in Korea. The effect of social inequality was examined against adverse birth outcomes and infant mortality using multivariate logistic regression after controlling for other covariates. Results: Social inequality were observed in adverse birth outcomes: low birth weight (LBW, 1,500-2,499 g), very LBW (1,000-1,499 g), and extremely LBW (500-999 g) as well as moderately preterm birth (PTB, 33-36 weeks), very PTB (28-32 weeks), extremely PTB (22-27 weeks), and infant mortality. The effect of social inequality was higher among moderately LBW (1,500-2,499 g) and PTB (33-36 weeks) than very or extremely LBW and PTB. Conclusion: The social inequality in adverse birth outcomes (low birth weight and preterm) and infant mortality existed and increased in Korea from 1995 to 2010. The effect of maternal education on adverse birth outcomes as well as infant mortality was apparent in the study results. Especially, social inequailiy in infant mortality was greater among the sub-normal births (low birth weight [1,500-2,499 g] or preterm birth [33-36 weeks]), which suggests, social interventions should aim at more among the subnormal births. This study suggest that tackling inequality in births as well as infant mortality should be focused on the social inequality itself.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.348-357
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to identify maternal, infant, and perinatal mortality using the national population data of South Korea between 2018 and 2020, and to analyze mortality rates according to characteristics such as age, date of death, and cause of death in each group. This study updates the most recent study using 2009 to 2017 data. Methods: Analyses of maternal, infant, and perinatal mortality were done with data identified through the supplementary investigation system for cases of death from the Census of Population Dynamics data provided by Statistics Korea from 2018 to 2020. Results: Between 2018 and 2020, a total of 99 maternal deaths, 2,427 infant deaths, and 2,408 perinatal deaths were identified from 901,835 live births. The maternal mortality ratio was 11.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018; it decreased to 9.9 in 2019 but increased again to 11.8 in 2020. The maternal mortality ratio increased steeply in women over the age of 40 years. An increasing trend in the maternal mortality ratio was found for complications related to the puerperium and hypertensive disorders. Both infant and perinatal mortality continued to decrease, from 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 2.5 in 2020 and from 2.8 in 2018 to 2.5 in 2020, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, the maternal, infant, and perinatal mortality statistics showed improvements. However, more attention should be paid to women over 40 years of age and specific causes of maternal deaths, which should be taken into account in Korea's maternal and child health policies.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.76-86
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• 1988

The primary objective of this study was to estimate the level of infant mortality rate and to find the cause of infant deaths prevailed in 1981~86 from vital registration data. In the course of that undertaking we have considered the non-registered portion of infant deaths especially for the non-registered portion of neonatal deaths. The main reason is that deaths occurring in the neonatal period and prior to the registration of the birth leave little incentive for the registration of either the birth or the death. From several ad-hoc survey's results and other countries' experiences it was, however, found that the proportion of neonatal deaths was 69.3%, the proportion of deaths in the period of first month in infanty was 7%, and the proportion of deaths in the period of 2 months and over in infancy was 23.7% respectivily. Thus, adoption the hypothesis that post-neonatal mortality is completly registered, we obtained the extimated number of infant deaths. Attempt to test the hypothesis was also made using the Brougeois- Pichats's function. The result was that the registered number of deaths in the post-neonatal period is almost compatible with the expected number. The major finding in this study was that the level of infant mortality rate in Korea was 19 per thousand live births in 1981 and 13 in 1986. This level of 1986 was almost identical with the level of Japan in 1970. It was also found that there was a difference in the level of infant mortality rate between sexes during 1981-83 but the difference was disappeared in 1985-86. Looking into the cause of infant deaths, it was found from registration that 21.2% of all infant deaths was due to congenital snomalies, 11.5% was due to pneumonia and 5.1% was due to the conditions originating in the perinatal period in that order. This pattern seems to be different with that of U.S.A., Japan and France. However, if we consider the non-registered neo-natal deaths, the order of the cause of infant deaths in Korea will be the same as compared countries. Finally, every efforts should should be made to obtain a good quality of data on infant mortality, making the non-registered events reported completely through hospitals.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.52-56
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• 2012

This study examines whether the infant mortality rate and life expectancy at birth are affected by health care expenditure in Korea. It can be provisionally concluded that the infant mortality rate tends to be affected by the health system itself in the long-run, whereas life expectancy at birth is immediately affected by health-related facilities such as the number of physicians and number of hospital beds in the short-run. Therefore, the health-related system should be well established to improve the infant mortality rate. On the contrary, physical capital such as life-prolonging medical technologies has to be accumulated to improve life expectancy at birth.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.469-476
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• 2006

Objectives : To investigate the effect of parents' social class on infant and child mortality rates among the birth cohort, for the period of transition to and from the Koran economic crisis 1995-2004. Methods : All births reported to between 1995 and 2004 (n=5,711,337) were analyzed using a Cox regression model, to study the role of the social determinants of parents in infant and child mortality. The results were adjusted for the parents' age, education and occupation, together with mother's obstetrical history. Results. The crude death rate among those under 10 was 3.71 per 1000 births (21,217 deaths among 5,711,337 births) between 1995 and 2004. The birth cohorts from lower educated parents less than elementary school showed higher mortality rates compared with those from higher educated parents over university level (HR:3.0 (95%CI:2.8-3.7) for father and HR:3.4 (95%CI:3.3-4.5) for mother). The mother's education level showed a stronger relationship with mortality among the birth cohort than that of the fathers. The gaps in infant mortality rates by parents' social class, and educational level became wider from 1995 to 2004. In particular, the breadth of the existing gap between higher and lower parents' social class groups has dramatically widened since the economic crisis of 1998. Discussions : This study shows that social differences exist in infant and child mortality rates. Also, the gap for the infant mortality due to social class has become wider since the economic crisis of 1998.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.286-296
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• 2021

Purpose: This study compared infant mortality and its associated factors between Korean and immigrant women using vital statistics gathered by Statistics Korea. Methods: Birth and death statistics from the period between 2009 and 2019 were extracted from the census of population dynamics data of the Microdata Integrated Service, Korea. Statistical data were derived from a complete survey and infant mortality was analyzed from mortality statistics data. Descriptive statistics were used for comparison. Results: The average infant mortality rate (IMR) of Korean women was 2.7 in Korea, which did not change significantly between 2009 and 2019; however, the IMR of immigrant women increased significantly in 2018 to 4.2 and subsequently decreased to 2.6 in 2019. Moreover, the age of Korean and immigrant women at the time of infant death gradually increased from 31.1 years and 25.9 years in 2009 to 32.8 years and 30.9 years in 2019, respectively. The gestational age was lower for deceased infants born to immigrant women (mean, 31.04 weeks; standard deviation [SD], 6.42; median, 30.00) compared to infants born to Korean women (mean, 31.71 weeks; SD, 6.48; median, 32.00). Immigrant women (91.7%) received slightly fewer antenatal care visits compared to Korean women (93.1%). Conclusion: It is vital to devise a plan to lower the IMR of immigrant women in Korea. Moreover, it is necessary to explore the factors related to infant mortality among immigrant women within the context of Korean societal situation, culture, and home environment.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.120-130
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• 2000

Studies on the relation between socio-economic factors and metermal and child health have found that poverty, lack of edcation, inappropriate health serives are affecting to maternal and child health. The Gender Related Development Index (GDI) focuses on equality between men and women as well as on the average achiement of all people taken together, using same cariables as the Human Development Index (HDI) which are life expectancy, literacy rate, and per capita GDP. This research is to inverstigate whether HDI and GDI are useful determinants for maternal infant mortality. Using 146 UN member countries date, we condented multiple regression analysis for maternal and infant mortality with three models which are Model(individual variables-literacy rate, per capita GDP), Model(HDI) and Model(GDI). The results showed that HDI and GDI are powerful determinants of both maternal and infant mortality, respectively HDI($\beta$=-1.18, t=3.3; $\beta$=1.04, t=5.1) GDI($\beta$=-1.44, t=3.9; $\beta$=1.28, t=6.5) The higher power in model with GDI for both maternal and infant mortalities represented that GDI was more powerful determinant of maternal and infant mortality, than HDI respectively HDI($R^2$=0.824, $R^2$=0.842), GDI($R^2$=0.834, $R^2$=0.865). In conclusion, the maternal and infant mortalities are explained by GDI than HDI and may be lower in the societies where there are less discimination between men and women.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.131-149
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• 2012

This study examined the effect of parental socioeconomic position on the association between birth outcomes and infant mortality in early and late 2000's. Linked Birth and Infant Death data sets from 2001 to 2003 (T1) and from 2006 to 2008 (T2), provided by the Korea National Statistical Office, were used for analysis. Birth outcomes were categorized into four groups: normal term, small-for-gestational age (SGA), large-for-gestational age (LGA) and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Infant death was defined as the death of a live-born child under one year of age; indicators of parental socioeconomic position were limited to parental education and occupation. The results showed that T2 infant mortality hazard ratios of SGA and IUGR have increased compared to T1. Particularly, preterm and low birth weight babies with shorter gestational age and lighter birth weight than T1 have elevated in T2, possibly indicating that population quality might be continuously aggravated. Moreover, the effect of maternal age on infant mortality has disappeared, rather that of parents' socioeconomic position has increased during the periods, which entailed growing disparities in infant mortality by their social class. Further studies should be therefore done to estimate the effect of parental socioeconomic position on the relationship between birth outcomes and infant mortality in the near future.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2009

In recent years, reductions in infant mortality have mainly been accomplished by improving the survival of premature and low birth weight infants, however premature infants still remain at great risk. The purpose of this study was to review the maternal child health service related to premature infants and to provide a future direction for improving maternal child health (MCH) in Korea. We reviewed two MCH services which are directly related to premature infants: 1) a registry and financial support program for families with a premature infant, and 2) financial support to build neonatal intensive care units in rural public hospitals. Suggestions are made for the development of a national vital signs record system to identify high risk infants and to monitor the trends in infant mortality due to prematurity. Prevention efforts and preconception care for childbearing women is also an important strategy to reduce the rate of preterm births. Finally, we need consider long-term follow-up plans for premature infants for a successful transit to the special education system. Developing MCH policy related to premature infants that decreases the occurrence of premature may decrease infant mortality, and also improve maternal and child health services.