Factors affecting infant mortality rates: evidence from 1969–2008 data in Singapore

Abstract

Aims The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of demographic changes, socioeconomic inequality, and availability of health resources on infant mortality rates (IMR) in Singapore. Subjects and methods A retrospective study design was used to collect yearly data for Singapore covering the period from 1969 to 2008. The IMR was the dependent variable and demographics, socioeconomic status, and health resources were the three main determinants.Results A structural equation model was employed and results showed that more available health resources (beta= −0.43, p<0.01) were more likely to reduce the IMR. By contrast, socioeconomic inequality (beta=0.43, p<0.01) and demographic changes (beta=−0.31, p<0.01) were more likely to increase the IMR. Conclusions These results therefore imply that more effort, particularly during economic downturns, should be put into removing the barriers that impede access to health care services and increasing preventive care for the population that currently has less access to health care in communities where there is a scarcity of medical resources.

Impact of Demographic Change, Socioeconomics, and Health Care Resources on Life Expectancy in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar

“…Economic up-and downturns relate to the output of all goods and services, whereas inflation and deflation refer to increasing and decreasing prices of Our findings support claims that higher inflation rate and declining income per capita increases the probability of low LE. Like previous studies (Bartley et al, 2004;Lindstrom & Lindstrom, 2006;Zimmer, 2006), these findings have led to important implications; that is, economic reconstruction, policy makers should be more aware that economic hardship can be expected to impact those less able to protect themselves (Chan, 2011), such as the elderly, whose health status will deteriorate. A previous study found that more than 65% of the death rates of elderly occurred in the low income group .…”

“…Our results showed that greater LE rates are associated with economic upturns and economic recessions are desirable even if they lower LE. Perhaps, we should focus on the positive impacts of health implications while increasing these rates during economic upturn (Chan, ).…”

“…There is an association between health care expenditures, health care resources, death rates, and health outcomes (Caliskan, 2009;Chan, 2011;Shiu & Chiu, 2008). Health care services such as hospital deliveries and prenatal examination are positively correlated with LE (Chan, Ng, & Van, 2010;Li et al, 2008).…”

The Impact of Sociodemographic, Macroeconomic, and Health Status and Resources on Infant Mortality Rates in Oman: Evidence from 1980 to 2022

“…This study's required sample size (the number of years) was determined based on the number of indicators pointing at any determinant in the proposed model or a minimum R 2 at 0.25. The required years ranged from 30 to 59 years, with approximately 80 percent power at a 5 percent significance level [42][43][44].…”

“…The proposed conceptual model was developed based on previous studies [44][45][46][47] and the results from a systematic review [29]. Overall, this study intends to examine the effect of multiple explanatory variables on IMR in Oman using structural equation modeling (SEM).…”