A new study in JAMA Pediatrics has found differences in infant mortality rates between black and white infants. Photo by Praisaeng/Shutterstock

July 3 (UPI) -- A new study by McGill University in Montreal shows U.S. infant mortality rates are higher among black infants compared to white infants.

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the infant mortality rate in the United States decreased by 15 percent in the past 10 years.


Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System from 2005 to 2015 and found the infant mortality rate for black infants decreased from 14.3 to 11.6 per 1,000 births between the study time period. However, the infant mortality rate increased in black infants more recently between 2014 and 2015.

Deaths from short gestation/low birth weight decreased for black infants between 2005 and 2011, but those rates have remained steady in recent years.

In white infants, the overall mortality rate decreased from 5.7 to 4.8 per 1,000 births from 2005 to 2015.

The study, which was published July 3 in JAMA Pediatrics, showed other leading causes of death in infants, including congenital malformations, maternal complications and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, decreased from 2005 to 2015 in both white and black infants.

However, deaths from both SIDS and congenital malformations increased in black infants last year.

"In terms of cause of death, we found increases in infant mortality due to congenital malformations, SIDS, and all other causes of infant death between 2014 and 2015, implying that there is no sole cause behind the increase," Corinne Riddell, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University, told UPI.

"Perhaps more important is that the decrease in infant mortality due to short gestation/low birth weight seen during 2005 to 2010 stalled during the most recent time period [2010-2015]. The infant mortality rate for this cause is four times as high among black infants than white infants, representing the largest inequality among all the leading causes of infant death, and may represent the most promising area for intervention to reduce the overall inequality in infant mortality."

Researchers found that the preterm birth rate is nearly 50 percent higher for black infants compared to white infants, which may play a role in the death rate difference.

Riddell said it was unknown if socioeconomic factors played a role in the increase in death rates.

"Based on this study, we cannot say what the role of socioeconomic factors was in the increase in the infant mortality rate among black infants," Riddell said. "An interesting avenue for future research would be to investigate whether the plateauing and increasing trend in infant mortality among blacks is isolated to mothers with lower education or within specific states, which might help better contextualize these trends."