A geographical analysis of the relationship between early childhood death and socio-economic environment in an English city

The relationship between early childhood death and socio-economic conditions was studied by obtaining the home address, at the time of death, of 254 infants and children between the ages of 0 to 5 years who died within the City of Southampton, England, between 1977 and 1982. The addresses were grouped into 142 'super-enumeration' districts formed by combining enumeration districts with similar socio-economic characteristics. These 'super-enumeration' districts were then categorised into 15 cluster types which highlighted the major social characteristics of the areas within Southampton. The number of deaths for each cluster type was then ascertained. A strong relationship was found to exist between high rates of early childhood death and cluster types displaying adverse social conditions--in particular, high levels of unemployment, single-parent families and poor housing amenities. It is suggested that the approach taken by this study might be one way of pinpointing areas of cities where a disproportionately large number of babies and young children die. It might then be possible by a combined and concerted effort on the part of the medical profession, nurses health visitors, social workers and local authority to save at least some very young babies and children who might otherwise die.