HOSPITAL FATALITY RATES FOR PREMATURE INFANTS

[摘要] Data are presented from about half of the hospitals in the United States caring for 50 or more premature infants a year. In these hospitals there were about 600,000 births during 1946.The incidence of prematurity, using as the definition of a premature infant one that was born alive weighing 2,500 gm. or less, was 6.1%. For white infants it was 5.6% and for nonwhite 9.5%.The fatality rate for the group born in the hospital was 21.5% and for those born outside, 36.6%.The close relation between survival and weight at birth is shown.For nonwhite infants the fatality rate was higher than for white infants—27.7% for the group born in the hospital and as contrasted with 24.5, and 43.9 for those born outside as contrasted with 31.5.There is need for better hospital records and for more comprehensive data on survival among premature infants.

[学科分类] 儿科学