scholarly journals Changes in Census Data Will Affect Our Understanding of Infant Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110236
Author(s):  
Alexis R. Santos-Lozada
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Infant Health ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Differential Privacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Health Statistics ◽  
Health Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

Descriptions of the effect of the implementation of a new disclosure avoidance system (DAS), which relies on differential privacy, emphasize the impact of our understanding of contemporary social and health dynamics. However, focusing on overall population may obscure important changes in subpopulation indicators such as age-specific rates resulting from this implementation. The author provides a visualization that compares infant mortality rates calculated using 2009–2011 county-level average death counts and denominators derived from the traditional and proposed DASs. Death counts come from the National Center for Health Statistics and denominators come from the first U.S. Census Bureau demonstration products. These visualizations indicate that infant mortality rates produced using the proposed DAS are different from those produced using the traditional methods, with higher variation observed for nonmetropolitan counties and areas with smaller populations. These findings suggest that the proposed DAS will hinder our ability to understand contemporary health dynamics in the United States.

scholarly journals Differential privacy in the 2020 Census will distort COVID-19 rates

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Hauer ◽  
Alexis R Santos-Lozada
Keyword(s):  
Differential Privacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Specific Mortality ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Us Census ◽  
Population Counts

Scientists and policy makers rely on accurate population and mortality data to inform efforts regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with age-specific mortality rates of high importance due to the concentration of COVID-19 deaths at older ages. Population counts – the principal denominators for calculating age-specific mortality rates – will be subject to noise infusion in the United States with the 2020 Census via a disclosure avoidance system based on differential privacy. Using COVID-19 mortality curves from the CDC, we show that differential privacy will introduce substantial distortion in COVID-19 mortality rates – sometimes causing mortality rates to exceed 100\% -- hindering our ability to understand the pandemic. This distortion is particularly large for population groupings with fewer than 1000 persons – 40\% of all county-level age-sex groupings and 60\% of race groupings. The US Census Bureau should consider a larger privacy budget and data users should consider pooling data to increase population sizes to minimize differential privacy’s distortion.

scholarly journals How differential privacy will affect our understanding of health disparities in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (24) ◽  
pp. 13405-13412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis R. Santos-Lozada ◽  
Jeffrey T. Howard ◽  
Ashton M. Verdery
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Differential Privacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Vital Rates ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Racial Ethnic

The application of a currently proposed differential privacy algorithm to the 2020 United States Census data and additional data products may affect the usefulness of these data, the accuracy of estimates and rates derived from them, and critical knowledge about social phenomena such as health disparities. We test the ramifications of applying differential privacy to released data by studying estimates of US mortality rates for the overall population and three major racial/ethnic groups. We ask how changes in the denominators of these vital rates due to the implementation of differential privacy can lead to biased estimates. We situate where these changes are most likely to matter by disaggregating biases by population size, degree of urbanization, and adjacency to a metropolitan area. Our results suggest that differential privacy will more strongly affect mortality rate estimates for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics than estimates for non-Hispanic whites. We also find significant changes in estimated mortality rates for less populous areas, with more pronounced changes when stratified by race/ethnicity. We find larger changes in estimated mortality rates for areas with lower levels of urbanization or adjacency to metropolitan areas, with these changes being greater for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics. These findings highlight the consequences of implementing differential privacy, as proposed, for research examining population composition, particularly mortality disparities across racial/ethnic groups and along the urban/rural continuum. Overall, they demonstrate the challenges in using the data products derived from the proposed disclosure avoidance methods, while highlighting critical instances where scientific understandings may be negatively impacted.

scholarly journals Differential Privacy in the 2020 Census Will Distort COVID-19 Rates

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312199401
Author(s):  
Mathew E. Hauer ◽  
Alexis R. Santos-Lozada
Keyword(s):  
Differential Privacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
County Level ◽  
Specific Mortality ◽  
Population Counts ◽  
Privacy Budget ◽  
The U.S

Scholars rely on accurate population and mortality data to inform efforts regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with age-specific mortality rates of high importance because of the concentration of COVID-19 deaths at older ages. Population counts, the principal denominators for calculating age-specific mortality rates, will be subject to noise infusion in the United States with the 2020 census through a disclosure avoidance system based on differential privacy. Using empirical COVID-19 mortality curves, the authors show that differential privacy will introduce substantial distortion in COVID-19 mortality rates, sometimes causing mortality rates to exceed 100 percent, hindering our ability to understand the pandemic. This distortion is particularly large for population groupings with fewer than 1,000 persons: 40 percent of all county-level age-sex groupings and 60 percent of race groupings. The U.S. Census Bureau should consider a larger privacy budget, and data users should consider pooling data to minimize differential privacy’s distortion.

The Fifty-Year Decline of Cancer in America

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Rodu ◽  
Philip Cole
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Cancer Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Health Statistics ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Impact

PURPOSE: From 1950 to 1990, the overall cancer mortality rate increased steadily in the United States, a trend which ran counter to declining mortality from other major diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of lung cancer on all-cancer mortality over the past 50 years. METHODS: Data from the National Centers for Health Statistics were used to develop mortality rates for all forms of cancer combined, lung cancer, and other-cancer (all-cancer minus lung cancer) from 1950 to 1998. RESULTS: When lung cancer is excluded, mortality from all other forms of cancer combined declined continuously from 1950 to 1998, dropping 25% during this period. The decline in other-cancer mortality was approximately 0.4% annually from 1950 to 1990 but accelerated to 0.9% per year from 1990 to 1996 and to 2.2% per year from 1996 to 1998. CONCLUSION: The long-term decline is likely due primarily to improvements in medical care, including screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

Infant Mortality Problems in Norway, by Julie E. Backer, Ph.D., and Øystein Aagenaes, M.D. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office (PHS Publication Number 1000, Series 3, No. 8 of National Center for Health Statistics), 1967, 40 pp., $0.30

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1019-1019
Author(s):  
Julie E. Backer ◽  
Øystein Aagenaes
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Government Printing ◽  
Health Statistics ◽  
Mortality Trends ◽  
Publication Number ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Infant Loss ◽  
Legitimacy Status

One of a group of studies designed to delineate the perinatal and infant mortality problem in the United States, this new report from the National Center for Health Statistics presents an analysis of the problem in Norway. The study focuses on the sizable decreases in late neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates and the considerably smaller decrease in the perinatal rate. Changes in several parameters of infant loss and their influences on the infant and perinatal mortality trends are discussed, including such risk factors as legitimacy status, maternal age and parity, seasonal, and urban-rural differences.

scholarly journals More Than Shelter: Housing for Urban Maternal and Infant Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3331
Author(s):  
Jason Reece
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Infant Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Housing Quality ◽  
Housing Discrimination ◽  
Maternal Health Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

Housing quality, stability, and affordability have a direct relationship to socioemotional and physical health. Both city planning and public health have long recognized the role of housing in health, but the complexity of this relationship in regard to infant and maternal health is less understood. Focusing on literature specifically relevant to U.S. metropolitan areas, I conduct a multidisciplinary literature review to understand the influence of housing factors and interventions that impact infant and maternal health. The paper seeks to achieve three primary goals. First, to identify the primary “pathways” by which housing influences infant and maternal health. Second, the review focuses on the role and influence of historical housing discrimination on maternal health outcomes. Third, the review identifies emergent practice-based housing interventions in planning and public health practice to support infant and maternal health. The literature suggests that the impact of housing on infant health is complex, multifaceted, and intergenerational. Historical housing discrimination also directly impacts contemporary infant and maternal health outcomes. Policy interventions to support infant health through housing are just emerging but demonstrate promising outcomes. Structural barriers to housing affordability in the United States will require new resources to foster greater collaboration between the housing and the health sectors.

scholarly journals Outcomes for Children and Adolescents With Cancer: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (15) ◽  
pp. 2625-2634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm A. Smith ◽  
Nita L. Seibel ◽  
Sean F. Altekruse ◽  
Lynn A.G. Ries ◽  
Danielle L. Melbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Childhood Cancer ◽  
Cancer Mortality ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Childhood Cancers ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This report provides an overview of current childhood cancer statistics to facilitate analysis of the impact of past research discoveries on outcome and provide essential information for prioritizing future research directions. Methods Incidence and survival data for childhood cancers came from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 9 (SEER 9) registries, and mortality data were based on deaths in the United States that were reported by states to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by underlying cause. Results Childhood cancer incidence rates increased significantly from 1975 through 2006, with increasing rates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia being most notable. Childhood cancer mortality rates declined by more than 50% between 1975 and 2006. For leukemias and lymphomas, significantly decreasing mortality rates were observed throughout the 32-year period, though the rate of decline slowed somewhat after 1998. For remaining childhood cancers, significantly decreasing mortality rates were observed from 1975 to 1996, with stable rates from 1996 through 2006. Increased survival rates were observed for all categories of childhood cancers studied, with the extent and temporal pace of the increases varying by diagnosis. Conclusion When 1975 age-specific death rates for children are used as a baseline, approximately 38,000 childhood malignant cancer deaths were averted in the United States from 1975 through 2006 as a result of more effective treatments identified and applied during this period. Continued success in reducing childhood cancer mortality will require new treatment paradigms building on an increased understanding of the molecular processes that promote growth and survival of specific childhood cancers.

scholarly journals The impact of changes in preterm birth among twins on stillbirth and infant mortality in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 823-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Getahun ◽  
K Demissie ◽  
S W Marcella ◽  
G G Rhoads
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Benefits of Understanding Systemic Racism in Forming Clinician-Patient Relationships to Reduce Black Infant Mortality

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Michelle A. Gotto ◽  
Laura Morello ◽  
Marsha Michie
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Patient Communication ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Doctor Patient Communication ◽  
Public Health Researcher ◽  
The Impact

Background: The United States lags far behind other developed nations in our overall infant mortality rate. Public health researcher Arline Geronimus has described a "weathering" effect of chronic racial stress among Black women that contributes to high rates of preterm birth, the leading cause of infant death. Trusting relationships between clinicians and patients may play a role in reducing infant mortality for Black mothers. Based on a social-ecological model of health care communication around infant mortality, we focus here on doctor-patient communication and correlations between clinicians' understandings of systemic racism and their communication with Black pregnant patients.Methods: This paper reports the findings from interviews with 5 maternal health clinicians (prior to recruitment being temporarily paused due to COVID-19) practicing at Cuyahoga County hospitals that serve large populations of Black women. Qualitative coding methods based in grounded theory were used to draw out themes from interview transcripts.Results: Doctor-patient communication was an emergent theme in these interviews. Results suggest an association between clinicians' understanding of the impact of systemic racism and their ability to communicate successfully and form positive bonds with pregnant mothers who are at higher risk of infant mortality.Conclusion: Acknowledging systemic racism as the cause of poor social determinants of health, which in turn contribute to higher rates of infant mortality, may provide clinicians a pathway to more positive communication and higher levels of trust with their patients, which in turn may play a role in reducing infant mortality in the Black community. Further research should investigate these associations.

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