A study of infant mortality in Greenwich: A comparison of the infant mortality rates of wards within Greenwich after allowance for deprivation

Using 1981 census data for Greenwich plus OPCS statistics on infant deaths in Greenwich (1981–1989) this paper describes the construction of ‘corrected’ infant mortality rates for wards within Greenwich after allowing for the deprivation experienced within each ward. It is hoped that these simple methods could be used to identify those areas which merit further investigation without resorting to more complicated statistical methods. It would then be possible to investigate whether interventions are helping or are other factors involved? Finally regression analyses are used in order to understand the many factors involved in the measured deprivation and the inter-relationships between them.