title: [Infant mortality according to race/color in Brazil: what do the national databases say?].
abstract: This study analyzes the consistency of the Brazilian national information systems on mortality (SIM) and live births (SINASC) as data sources for evaluating health inequalities according to race/color. Infant mortality rates (IMRs) were obtained according to race/color from death and live birth certificates for the country as a whole and its regions, for the years 1999-2002. The IMR was also estimated according to race/ color, based on the incorporation of deaths and live births with race/color not reported by two criteria. The study compared the IMRs obtained in the study with those estimated by indirect methods. The IMR ratios were also calculated between race/color categories. A substantial reduction was observed during the period in the number of deaths and live births with race/color not recorded. In 2002, infant mortality in black children was 30.0% to 80.0% higher than that of white children and 40.0% to 80.0% higher than that of brown or mixed-race children (pardas); infant mortality in indigenous children was 40.0% to 90.0% higher than that of white or brown children. It is hoped that improved recording in the SIM and SINASC databases will allow a more in-depth discussion of health inequalities according to race, color, and ethnicity in Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Vigilância Epidemiológica, Secretaria de Estado de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andrey Moreira
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Ricardo Ventura
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Carlos E A
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Coimbra
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D019992:Databases as Topic; D005006:Ethnicity; D006304:Health Status; D007226:Infant Mortality; D050498:Live Birth; D012935:Social Justice; D000091762:Ethnic and Racial Minorities