2005 Illinois infant mortality rate equals the lowest ever recorded in the state

Illinois neonatal mortality rate also equals lowest ever recorded  

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The overall infant mortality rate in Illinois decreased from 7.3 in 2004 to 7.2 infant deaths (less than one year of age) per 1,000 state resident live births in 2005. The 7.2 rate matches the lowest rate ever recorded for Illinois in 2002. The Illinois neonatal mortality rate (less than 28 days) in Illinois remained unchanged in 2005 from 4.8 in 2004 - equaling the lowest neonatal rate ever recorded for the state. The postneonatal mortality rate (28-364 days) decreased from 2.5 in 2004 to 2.4 for 2005.

The number of Illinois infant deaths fell from 1,317 in 2004 to 1,294 in 2005, a 1.8 percent decrease. During this same period, births also declined from 180,655 to 178,872, or a 1.0 percent decrease. Since the percentage of infant deaths fell faster than that for total births, the infant mortality rate decreased in 2005.

However, by race category, the overall Illinois infant mortality rate for blacks increased from 14.8 in 2004 to15.4 in 2005, the neonatal rate increased from 8.9 to 9.8, but the postneonatal rate decreased from 6.0 to 5.5.

For the City of Chicago, the overall infant mortality rate increased to 8.5 in 2005, compared to 8.4 in 2004. The neonatal infant mortality rate for the City of Chicago decreased slightly from 5.4 in 2004 to 5.3 while the postneonatal mortality rate increased from 3.0 in 2004 to 3.2. These increases and decreases apply to all race categories.

For downstate Illinois (Illinois less Chicago), the overall infant mortality rate decreased from 6.9 in 2004 to 6.8 in 2005, the neonatal rate remained the same at 4.6, and the postneonatal rate decreased from 2.3 to 2.2 in 2005. By race category, the infant mortality rate for blacks increased from 15.7 to 16.5 in 2005, increases from 9.4 to 11.6 for neonatal infant deaths but decreased from 6.3 to 5.0 for postneonatal deaths.

None of these one-year differences in Illinois were statistically significant. The statistical significance is based on a Chi square test of the difference in rates.

Click here for 2005 Infant Mortality Rates.

The race categories and their names are defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget and are used in the collection and tabulation of Illinois vital event data. They do not represent or necessarily equate to other race category classification systems.

To get a clearer perspective of underlying trends, here is a brief time series of three and five-year averaged Illinois infant mortality rates.

One-year rate	Three-year average	Five-year average
2000 – 8.3	1998-2000 – 8.3	1996-2000 – 8.3
2001 – 7.5	1999-2001 – 8.0	1997-2001 – 8.1
2002 – 7.2	2000-2002 – 7.7	1998-2002 – 7.9
2003 – 7.6	2001-2003 – 7.4	1999-2003 – 7.8
2004 – 7.3	2002-2004 – 7.4	2000-2004 – 7.6
2005 – 7.2	2003-2005 – 7.4	2001-2005 – 7.4