title: High-risk families: the unequal distribution of infant mortality in nineteenth-century Sweden.
abstract: An analysis of infant mortality (based on 133,448 births) in two regions, Sundsvall and Skellefteå, in north-eastern Sweden during the nineteenth century shows that infant mortality was highly clustered with a relatively small number of families accounting for a large proportion of all infant deaths. Using logistic regression, two important factors were found to be associated with high-risk families: (i) a biological component evidenced by an over-representation of women who had experienced stillbirths, and (ii) a social component indicated by an increased risk among women who had remarried. The results strengthen the argument for using the family rather than the single child as the unit of analysis. The clustering of infant deaths points to the need to re-evaluate our interpretations of the causes of infant mortality in the past.
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. soren.edvinsson@ddb.umu.se
authors.forename: Sören
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edvinsson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brändström
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broström
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000266:history*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology