Wong T W, Wong S L, Yu T S, Liu J L, Lloyd O L
Department of Community and Family Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Scand J Soc Med. 1998 Dec;26(4):281-8. doi: 10.1177/14034948980260040901.
Although Hong Kong's infant mortality is among the lowest in the world, there may still be subgroups in the population with unusually high and possibly avoidable mortality rates. We conducted an ecological study on the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and infant mortality in Hong Kong by using government data from three periods: 1979-83, 1984-88 and 1989-93. The study population comprised all infant births in 65 modified districts in Hong Kong in the period 1979-93. Infant, neonatal and post-neonatal mortality rates (IMRs, NMRs and PNMRs) were used as the health indicators. An F score was derived from highly correlated socioeconomic variables by factor analysis and used as a summary index of socioeconomic status. In 1979-83, socioeconomic deprivation was found to be significantly associated with high IMRs and high NMRs in both sexes, while in 1984-88 this association was observed only in baby girls. None of the observed associations were significant in 1989-93. Overall, the territory's infant mortality rates fell from 10.2 per thousand live births in 1979-83 to 5.6 per thousand live births in 1989-93. Individual-based studies are needed to ascertain whether this apparent disappearance of the socioeconomic relationship with infant and neonatal mortality is real.
尽管香港的婴儿死亡率在世界上处于最低水平之列，但人群中可能仍存在一些亚组，其死亡率异常高且可能是可避免的。我们利用1979 - 83年、1984 - 88年和1989 - 93年三个时期的政府数据，对香港社会经济剥夺与婴儿死亡率之间的关系进行了一项生态研究。研究人群包括1979 - 93年期间香港65个改良区的所有婴儿出生情况。婴儿、新生儿和新生儿后期死亡率（IMRs、NMRs和PNMRs）被用作健康指标。通过因子分析从高度相关的社会经济变量中得出一个F分数，并将其用作社会经济地位的综合指标。在1979 - 83年，发现社会经济剥夺与男女的高IMRs和高NMRs显著相关，而在1984 - 88年，这种关联仅在女婴中观察到。在1989 - 93年观察到的关联均不显著。总体而言，该地区的婴儿死亡率从1979 - 83年的每千例活产10.2例降至1989 - 93年的每千例活产5.6例。需要进行基于个体的研究，以确定社会经济与婴儿及新生儿死亡率之间这种明显消失的关系是否真实。
