Arkansas’s infant mortality rate is significantly higher than the national average and increased from the fifth-worst in the U.S. from 2013 to 2015 to the third-worst in 2022. In the study summarized in this research brief, Arkansas Department of Health birth and death certificate data were linked to Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database enrollment and claims data, which made it possible to identify infants covered by Medicaid who died within their first year of life (between 2013 and 2016), assess their causes of death, and profile their healthcare utilization.
Key Findings
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was the primary cause of death in the study population, affecting 78 (55.3%) out of 141 infants.
- More than half of infants overall (53.3%) utilized inpatient or hospital services prior to their death.
- All cause-of-death groupings had missed opportunities for infants to receive appropriate well-child visits.
