Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data

This study explores cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen between 1861 and 1911, using newly available individual-level data from The Copenhagen Burial Register, as part of a larger comparative project within the SHiP network (Studying the history of Health in Port Cities). The aim is to de...

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Main Authors: Louise Ludvigsen, Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios, Anne Løkke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Institute of Social History 2023-01-01
Series:Historical Life Course Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hlcs.nl/article/view/12032
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author Louise Ludvigsen
Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios
Anne Løkke
author_facet Louise Ludvigsen
Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios
Anne Løkke
author_sort Louise Ludvigsen
collection DOAJ
description This study explores cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen between 1861 and 1911, using newly available individual-level data from The Copenhagen Burial Register, as part of a larger comparative project within the SHiP network (Studying the history of Health in Port Cities). The aim is to determine the dominant cause of death patterns for infants and to explore how the ICD10h coding system performs with the Danish individual level-historical causes of death. The results show that in Copenhagen, infant mortality began a distinct decline during the period of study (1861–1911), but the city experienced only very few changes in the cause of death pattern. While a transition from symptomatic to more specific causes of death took place over time, the largest killers overall were the water-food borne and airborne diseases, with a respectively summer and winter peak. The airborne and water-food borne diseases were mainly dominant amongst the post-neonates, whose mortality made up an increasingly larger share of infant deaths. Finally, the results show that although coding the Danish causes of death to the ICD10h has proven successful, more attention needs to be paid to different uses of the same cause of death by different nations, such as the case of atrophy.
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spelling doaj-art-61738ac121be47b5b8003d0d670d7d582025-02-03T04:31:41ZengInternational Institute of Social HistoryHistorical Life Course Studies2352-63432023-01-011310.51964/hlcs12032Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level dataLouise Ludvigsen0Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios1Anne Løkke2University of CopenhagenDanish National ArchivesUniversity of Copenhagen This study explores cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen between 1861 and 1911, using newly available individual-level data from The Copenhagen Burial Register, as part of a larger comparative project within the SHiP network (Studying the history of Health in Port Cities). The aim is to determine the dominant cause of death patterns for infants and to explore how the ICD10h coding system performs with the Danish individual level-historical causes of death. The results show that in Copenhagen, infant mortality began a distinct decline during the period of study (1861–1911), but the city experienced only very few changes in the cause of death pattern. While a transition from symptomatic to more specific causes of death took place over time, the largest killers overall were the water-food borne and airborne diseases, with a respectively summer and winter peak. The airborne and water-food borne diseases were mainly dominant amongst the post-neonates, whose mortality made up an increasingly larger share of infant deaths. Finally, the results show that although coding the Danish causes of death to the ICD10h has proven successful, more attention needs to be paid to different uses of the same cause of death by different nations, such as the case of atrophy. https://hlcs.nl/article/view/12032Historical causes of deathIndividual-level dataInfant mortalityICD10hDenmarkCopenhagen
spellingShingle Louise Ludvigsen
Barbara Revuelta-Eugercios
Anne Løkke
Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
Historical Life Course Studies
Historical causes of death
Individual-level data
Infant mortality
ICD10h
Denmark
Copenhagen
title Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
title_full Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
title_fullStr Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
title_full_unstemmed Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
title_short Cause-specific infant mortality in Copenhagen 1861–1911 explored using individual level data
title_sort cause specific infant mortality in copenhagen 1861 1911 explored using individual level data
topic Historical causes of death
Individual-level data
Infant mortality
ICD10h
Denmark
Copenhagen
url https://hlcs.nl/article/view/12032
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AT barbararevueltaeugercios causespecificinfantmortalityincopenhagen18611911exploredusingindividualleveldata
AT anneløkke causespecificinfantmortalityincopenhagen18611911exploredusingindividualleveldata