title: Social Environments, Genetics, and Black-White Disparities in Infant Mortality.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genes and environments often interplay to produce population health. However, in some instances, the scientific literature has favoured one explanation, underplaying the other, even in the absence of rigorous support. We examine parental race disparity on the risk of infant mortality to see if such an analysis might provide clues to understanding the extent to which genes and environment may shape perinatal risks.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed parental racial disparities in infant mortality among singletons by analysing the risk of infant mortality among racially consonant vs. dissonant couples over time between 1989-1997 and 1998-2006 in the state of Michigan (n = 1 428 199). We calculated the degree of modification of the relation between maternal race and infant mortality by paternal race dynamically across the two time periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Infant mortality among interracial couples decreased with time relative to white-white couples, while infant mortality among black-black couples increased with time after adjusting for socio-economic, demographic, and prenatal care differences. The degree to which paternal black race strengthened the relation between maternal black race and higher infant mortality risk relative to white mothers increased with time throughout our study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence from these data suggests that environmental factors likely play the greater role in explaining the parental race disparity and risk of infant mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: El-Sayed
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paczkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Caroline G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.|School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000639:trends; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011247:Pregnancy; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: genetics; infant mortality; race; racial disparities