2013 to 2015 infant mortality rate varied by state and race

(HealthDay)—The infant mortality rate varied by state, from 4.28 to 9.08 per 1,000 live births in Massachusetts and Mississippi, respectively, in 2013 through 2015, according to a January data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

T.J. Mathews, from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues used linked birth and infant death data from 2013 to 2015 to describe infant mortality rates in the United States by state and for race and Hispanic-origin groups.

The researchers found that in 2013 through 2015 the infant mortality rate varied by state, from 4.28 per 1,000 live births in Massachusetts to 9.08 per 1,000 live births in Mississippi. For infants of non-Hispanic white women, the mortality rate ranged from 2.52 in the District of Columbia to 7.04 in Arkansas. The mortality rate ranged from 8.27 in Massachusetts to 14.28 in Wisconsin for infants of non-Hispanic black women. For infants of Hispanic women, the mortality rate varied from 3.94 in Iowa to 7.28 in Michigan.

"This report provides recent state-level data that can inform efforts to lessen state and race-specific infant mortality rates," the authors write.