Infant mortality in SMSAs before Medicaid: test of a causal model.
Path analysis is applied to data on infant mortality, supplies of physicians and hospital beds, and population percentages of blacks and low-income families in 201 standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs) to test the hypothesis that medical resources mediate the effects of racial composition and low income on infant mortality rates. The hypothesis is not supported for the SMSA data: direct effects of racial composition and low income on infant mortality are stronger than indirect effects. The use of SMSA data for analysis is contrasted with the use of county data in a discussion of study by Anderson, from which the hypothesis was drawn.
D001741:Black or African American; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011338:Probability Theory; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012107:Research Design; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population