While mortality outcomes are an important indicator of a nation's health, neonatal mortality in developed countries has become increasingly rare. Small area estimates needed for smaller counties or ZIP codes are unstable. Additional measures of infant morbidity might be useful to complement mortality rates in these situations.

The California County Profile Reports include two additional measures for assessing infant health: 1) the percent of non-normal newborns and 2) the percent of newborns with a hospital stay exceeding 5 days after birth.

Definitions

This information is derived from the California Patient Discharge Data (PDD) published by the California Office of Statewide Planning and Development (OSHPD). Diagnosis related groups (DRG) are case mix assignments grouping hospital patients to categories based on diagnostic, therapeutic, and demographic characteristics for the purpose of reimbursement. Each newborn is assigned to one of seven DRG codes:

DRG	Description
385	Died/Transferred
386	Extreme Immaturity/Respiratory Distress Syndrome
387	Prematurity with Major Problems
388	Prematurity without Major Problems
389	Full Term Neonate with Major Problems
390	Full Term Neonate with Significant Problems
391	Normal Newborn

For the California County Profile Reports, all newborns that died/transferred, were born prematurely, or were born full term but with major or significant problems were included in the group of non-normal newborns.

A long length of stay is defined as a hospital stay after birth that exceeded 5 days. Note that only infants who were home discharged are included in the reference at risk population.

Tables and Figures

Number and Percent of Non-Normal Newborns by Race/Ethnicity, California and Butte County, 2005

Race/Ethnicity	Butte County			California
Race/Ethnicity	N	All Births	%	N	All Births	%
Hispanic	103	488	21.1	60,899	278,933	21.8
Non-Hispanic White	346	1,624	21.3	36,580	149,493	24.5
Non-Hispanic Black	8	33	24.2	8,378	27,697	30.2
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander	20	140	14.3	14,289	63,124	22.6
Non-Hispanic Other Race	42	119	35.3	4,184	15,968	26.2
Overall	519	2,404	21.6	124,330	535,215	23.2

Births with unknown values are not included
Categories with less than 10 live births are grayed
Source: CDPH and California OSHPD

Percent of Non-Normal Newborns, Butte County, 2003-2005

Download as PDF

Source: California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California OSHPD

Percent of Non-Normal Newborns, California and Butte County, 1991-2005

Download as PDF

Source: California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California OSHPD

Number and Percent of Newborns with Hospital Stay Longer than 5 Days Until Home Discharge by Race/Ethnicity, California and Butte County, 2005

Race/Ethnicity	Butte County			California
Race/Ethnicity	N	All Births	%	N	All Births	%
Hispanic	26	486	5.3	16,705	276,691	6.0
Non-Hispanic White	67	1,614	4.2	9,391	148,403	6.3
Non-Hispanic Black	0	33	0.0	2,768	27,385	10.1
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander	2	139	1.4	3,733	62,702	6.0
Non-Hispanic Other Race	13	118	11.0	1,145	15,748	7.3
Overall	108	2,390	4.5	33,742	530,929	6.4

Births with unknown values are not included
Categories with less than 10 live births are grayed
Source: CDPH and California OSHPD

Percent of Newborns with Hospital Stay Longer than 5 Days Until Home Discharge, Butte County, 2003-2005

Download as PDF

Source: California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California OSHPD

Percent of Newborns with Hospital Stay Longer than 5 Days Until Home Discharge, California and Butte County, 1991-2005

Download as PDF

Source: California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California OSHPD

Sponsored by the CDPH Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Program

IPODR - California County Profile Report