Professional Resources: FIMR
State Coordinators
Vanderburgh County Infant Mortality Rate
Family Resources: |
 A bstract of V anderburgh C ounty FIMR S tudy The infant mortality rate for Vanderburgh County in 1996, the latest year the statistics are available, was 10.8 (Indiana Department of Health). In comparison to other states, Indiana has been placed 39th for the number of infant deaths. In 1995, the preliminary infant mortality rate in the United States was 7.5, the lowest rate ever recorded for the United States. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The Vanderburgh County FIMR is examining the health records and interviewing all families who have experienced the death of an infant up to one year of age during 1998 or 1999. The aim of the study is to use the information to make recommendations to improve care, service, or resources to pregnant families, and to decrease infant deaths in the future. The study is sponsored by the Indiana Perinatal Network, an affiliation of The March of Dimes. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The research questions for this study are: 1. What are the major 2. What is the relationship of these variables? DESIGN: Case study design (Yin, 1994) is utilized for this study. The case study design is a nonexperiemental inquiry that investigates phenomenon in real-life context. The design is suitable for studies such as this where there is no manipulation of subjects, and multiple sources of data are collected, including both quantitative and qualitative data. Data from each case will be cross-analyzed with the other cases to examine patterns and trends. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION: The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants greater than 20 weeks gestation and under one year of age per 1000 live births in a given population (Ladewig, London, & Olds, 1998). DEFINITION OF STUDY SAMPLE: 1. Fetal deaths greater than 20 weeks gestation and 2. The fetal/infant deaths of the ages described 3. Fetal deaths resulting from elective abortions will 4. County residents whose infant's death occurred INSTRUMENTS: The National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Data Abstraction Forms will be utilized for this study. These forms are authored by the National FIMR Program and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. DATA COLLECTION: The study will include two major sources of data, the medical record review and the home interview. The data collectors will complete the data abstraction forms according to the circumstances of the particular family. For example, when the infant was admitted to NICU, that form will be collected. The researcher conducting the interview will send a letter of condolence to the family, and follow this letter with phone calls. With informed consent, the home interview will take place between 8-12 weeks after the death of the infant. Both parents will be included when at all possible. The open-ended questions regarding the parents' experiences will be audiotaped. The remainder of the home interview includes the completion of the home data abstraction form with the parents and the counselor. DATA ANALYSIS: The National FIMR software that corresponds to the abstraction forms will be utilized for data entry and analysis. Descriptive statistical summaries and variable inter-correlations will be analyzed. The qualitative data obtained form the home interview will be analyzed from the transcript of the interview utilizing the technique of pattern matching and cross-case analysis (Yin, 1994). The software will also generate a case summary that will be utilized for the report to the FIMR Review Board, who will make recommendations for changes to improve maternal and infant outcomes. |