Mar 27, 2025
Share this article:
WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Black Americans, including infants and children, have persistent excess mortality relative to White Americans, according to a study published online March 25 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Angel Paternina-Caicedo, M.D., from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, and colleagues examined excess infant and childhood mortality in Black Americans between 1950 and 2019. Mortality data obtained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau were analyzed, and the absolute and relative sex- and age-specific excess mortality burden was compared for Black versus White Americans.
The researchers found that starting in 1950, the gaps in absolute life expectancy and age-standardized mortality decreased between Black and White Americans during the 70-year period, but there was an increase in relative mortality in infants and children during the same period. In the 1950s, the mortality rates were 2,703 and 5,181 deaths per 100,000 persons for White and Black infants, respectively, for an excess mortality ratio of 1.92. In the 2010s, the corresponding mortality rates were 499 and 1,073 deaths per 100,000 persons in White and Black infants, for an excess mortality ratio of 2.15. If mortality rates for Black Americans were equal to those of White Americans, a total of 5.0 million excess deaths (including 522,617 infants) could have been avoided during these seven decades.
“Racial inequalities in infant and childhood mortality between Black and White Americans have not decreased in 70 years in the United States, with Black infants and children consistently having nearly twice the risk for death of White infants and children,” the authors write.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
View all posts
The latest articles and insights from your colleagues in your specialty(ies) of choice.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
View all newsletters
The latest articles and insights from your colleagues in your specialty(ies) of choice.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
View all newsletters
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
Insights from the leaders in medical research, trending topics in clinical medicine, and perspectives from your colleagues.
Subscribe to our free Newsletters to receive weekly emails, and even get a laugh or two from our medical cartoons.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
About Physician’s Weekly
Careers
Memberships & Verifications
Press
Advertise With Us
Our Partners
Blog
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Editorial Policy
More Stories
Colorado Police Shooting of Black Man Underscores Distrust of Law Enforcement – LEVEL Man
Black Americans Urged to NOT Participate in 'Hands Off! National Day of Action' Anti-Trump Protest on April 5 | WATCH – eurweb.com
NYT: Biden's administration was furious and panicked when Ukrainians sank Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva – Ukrainska Pravda