Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23739649›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2013

The social determinants of infant mortality and birth outcomes in Western developed nations: a cross-country systematic review.

Daniel Kim, Adrianna Saada

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 140 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
140citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

140 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Observational
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Accelerating birth equity using collaborative systems mapping.Health research policy and systems · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Ultimate Context of the Termination of Parental Investment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Social Determinants of Health in Cerebral Palsy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024
    Article

80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Daniel KimBehavioural and Policy Sciences Department, RAND Corporation, 20 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, USA. dkim@rand.org
Adrianna Saada

Funding

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environments and Pathways to Coronary Heart DiseaseR00HL089459 · NHLBI · RAND CORPORATION · PI KIM, DANIEL · 2010 to 2012
$746k
NHLBI NIH HHS R00 HL089459
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Infant mortality (IM) and birth outcomes, key population health indicators, have lifelong implications for individuals, and are unequally distributed globally. Even among western industrialized nations, striking cross-country and within-country patterns are evident. We sought to better understand these variations across and within the United States of America (USA) and Western Europe (WE), by conceptualizing a social determinants of IM/birth outcomes framework, and systematically reviewing the empirical literature on hypothesized social determinants (e.g., social policies, neighbourhood deprivation, individual socioeconomic status (SES)) and intermediary determinants (e.g., health behaviours). To date, the evidence suggests that income inequality and social policies (e.g., maternal leave policies) may help to explain cross-country variations in IM/birth outcomes. Within countries, the evidence also supports neighbourhood SES (USA, WE) and income inequality (USA) as social determinants. By contrast, within-country social cohesion/social capital has been underexplored. At the individual level, mixed associations have been found between individual SES, race/ethnicity, and selected intermediary factors (e.g., psychosocial factors) with IM/birth outcomes. Meanwhile, this review identifies several methodological gaps, including the underuse of prospective designs and the presence of residual confounding in a number of studies. Ultimately, addressing such gaps including through novel approaches to strengthen causal inference and implementing both health and non-health policies may reduce inequities in IM/birth outcomes across the western developed world.

Indexed as

Infant MortalityPregnancy OutcomeDeveloped CountriesEuropeFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornPregnancySocioeconomic FactorsUnited States

Identifiers

PMID23739649
PMCPMC3717738

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.