Long-term trends of infant mortality rates in post-socialist EU countries

Abstract

Motives: Post-socialist European countries experienced significant political turmoil and economic and social changes in the late 1980s and the early 1990s due to regime change. These changes had a profound impact on their subsequent socioeconomic and demographic development. Since infant mortality rates (IMRs) are closely related to socio-economic changes, this study was undertaken to determine whether these changes affected IMRs in the transitional period.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in IMRs in eleven post-socialist European countries that are currently European Union (EU) members, and to compare IMRs in these countries with the remaining EU Member States. The changes in the slope of the IMR trend line were determined by a joinpoint regression analysis. The influence of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP) on IMRs in all EU countries was also examined.Results: It was found that the collapse of the socialist regime increased IMRs in post-socialist EU countries, and that contrary to other EU Member States, the changes in GDP per capita PPP continue to have a significant impact on IMRs in post-socialist EU countries.