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Jeppe Friborg, MD, Anders Koch, MD, PhD, Flemming Stenz, MD, Jan Wohlfahrt, MSc and Mads Melbye, MD, DMSc

Jeppe Friborg, Anders Koch, Jan Wohlfahrt, and Mads Melbye are with the Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. Flemming Stenz is with the Chief Medical Office, Nuuk, Greenland.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Jeppe Friborg, MD, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institute, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark (e-mail: jfr{at}ssi.dk).

Objectives. We sought to determine precise estimates of infant mortality rates and to describe overall trends in infant mortality in Greenland and Denmark from 1973 to 1997.

Methods. We analyzed data from population-based registries of all live-born infants in Greenland and Denmark to calculate infant mortality rates from 1973 to 1997.

Results. Between the periods of 1973–1977 and 1993–1997, neonatal mortality rates in Greenland declined from 20.9 per 1000 live-born infants to 15.7, and postneonatal mortality rates declined from 20.9 per 1000 to 5.9. Infant mortality rates were significantly higher in Greenland than in Denmark, and the excess mortality was uniformly distributed over all birthweight percentiles. In Greenland, the risk of infant death was significantly lower if the mother was born outside Greenland.

Conclusions. Postneonatal mortality rates in Greenland have decreased significantly during the past 25 years, but little progress has been made in decreasing neonatal mortality rates. Disparities exist among children with different maternal origins.