Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:18:06.762Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Social class as a risk factor for infant mortality in an Australian population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Susan Quine
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia

Summary

Studies in other countries have identified social class as a risk factor for infant mortality. In Australia there is no systematic collection of population data by social class, partly due to the absence of a recognized measure. The use of occupational prestige as an indicator of social class is discussed and Australian prestige scales reviewed. In a population based study, logistic regression analysis of infant mortality in an Australian (NSW) population shows the effects of social class on infant mortality which remain when maternal age, marital status and parity are controlled.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1991, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelstein, A.M., Macdonald Davies, I.M. & Weatherall, J.A.C. (1982) Perinatal and Infant Mortality: Social and Biological Factors 1975–77. Studies on Medical and Population Subjects No. 41. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Armitage, P. & Berry, G. (1987) Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 2nd edn.Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1971) Classified List of Occupations. Government Printing Office, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1986a) ASCO Statistical Classification, 1st edn. ABS Publication Catalogue No. 1222.0. Government Printing Office, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1986b) ASCO Coding System: Unit Group Level. ABS Publication Catalogue No. 1225.0 Government Printing Office Canberra.Google Scholar
Congalton, A.A. (1969) Status and Prestige in Australia. Cheshire, Sydney.Google Scholar
Congalton, A.A. & Havinghurst, R.J. (1954) Status ranking of occupations in New Zealand. Aust. J. Psychol. 6, 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cramer, J.C. (1987) Social factors and infant mortality; identifying the high risk groups and proximate causes. Demography, 24, 299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daniel, A.E. (1983) Power, Privilege and Prestige; Occupations in Australia. Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Daniel, A.E. (1986) The demography of occupational prestige in the Australian workforce. Aust. N.Z. J. Social. 22, 291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health (1987) Mortality Statistics: Perinatal and Infant (Social and Biological Factors). Series DH3 No. 18. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Eidelman, A.I., Kamar, R., Schimmel, M.S. & Barron, E. (1988) The grand multipara: is she still a risk? Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 158, 389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geronimus, A.T. (1986) The effects of race, residence and prenatal care on the relationship of maternal age to neonatal mortality. A. J. publ. Hlth, 76, 1416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Golding, J., Henriques, J. & Thomas, P. (1986) Unmarried at delivery. II. Perinatal mortality and morbidity. Early hum. Dev. 14, 217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, I.G. & Cameron, D. (1984) Social class analysis an embarrassment to epidemiology. Commun. Med. 6, 37.Google ScholarPubMed
Kiely, J.L., Paneth, N. & Susser, M. (1986) An assessment of the effects of maternal age and parity in different components of perinatal mortality. Am. J. Epidemiol. 123, 444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quine, S. (1986) Comparisons of Australian occupational prestige scales. Aust. N.Z. J. Social. 22, 399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rantakallio, P. (1986) Inequalities in children's deaths in the country with the lowest infant mortality. Publ. Hlth, 100, 152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed