Authors

Angela Peden, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Alison Scott, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Georgia Southern University
John G. Peden, Department of Hospitality, Tourism, and Family & Consumer Sciences Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

Social and Economic Determinants of Infant Ill Health in 159 Georgia Counties: A Comparison Study

Abstract

Prematurity and low birth weight (LBW) are important causes of infant morbidity in Georgia and the United States. Georgia county-level data were used to explore the relationships between prematurity and LBW and two social and economic determinants of health: race and poverty status. Spearman rank correlations and Friedman and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used. Prematurity and LBW were positively associated with poverty status and the presence of large African American populations. While causation cannot be inferred from correlative data, this analysis highlights the need to consider the role of social and economic factors in infant morbidity. It also highlights the need to target interventions and services to geographic areas most in need.

First Page

68

Last Page

75

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Peden, Angela; Scott, Alison; and Peden, John G. (2009) "Social and Economic Determinants of Infant Ill Health in 159 Georgia Counties: A Comparison Study," Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 4.
DOI: 10.20429/jgpha.2009.040104
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/jgpha/vol4/iss1/4