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© 1993 Oxford University Press

research-article

Patterns of Infant Mortality from Armenian Parish Records: A Study from 10 Countries of the Diaspora, 1737–1982

HAROUTUNE K ARMENIAN*, JAMES F MCCARTHY{dagger} and SEVAN G O BALBANIAN*

* Department of Epidemiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
{dagger} Center for Population and Family Health, Columbia University School of Public Health New York, NY 10032, USA

Using parish records from 10 different countries with small Armenian communities, this study compared patterns of in fant mortality in these countnes over a period of 245 years. Deaths registered as aged ≥1 year were used to estimate the numerator for the infant mortality rates (IMR) while the denominator was estimated from births in the same year based on baptisms in the appropriate registers. To check on the validity of using the baptisms as the denominator for the IMR, records of infant deaths were linked with the baptismal records. Thus, from a sample of 273 infant deaths 78.4% had a baptismal record in the registers of the same church in which the death was recorded. Of the deaths 60% had a recorded cause of death. Over the past 245 years, IMR have fallen substantially in all parishes. However, there were notable exceptions to this general pattern of declining IMR over time. For example, the IMR was tripled in Palestine during the decade of the First World War, possibly as a result of the influx of refugees deported from Turkey. A study of the seasonal occurrence of the deaths revealed peaking of deaths between May and August, a pattern influenced by the relative importance of gastroenteritis as a cause of death during the summer months in Egypt where the majority of these infant deaths were recorded. A review of the most important causes of death helped identify an out break of undetermined cause in Belgrade in 1737 and an outhreak of dysentery deaths in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1909. The observed variation in IMR between the various communities and during different time periods may be due to dif ferences in registration procedures and also may reflect differences in socioeconomic or environmental conditions.

Received 1 November 1992


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