A Multilevel Model of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in England and Wales

I H Langford and G Bentham
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I H Langford: Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ and University College London, London WC1E 6BT, England
G Bentham: School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England

Environment and Planning A, 1997, vol. 29, issue 4, 629-640

Abstract: It has previously been shown that there is a significant association between mortality from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and rates of long-term migration between local authority districts in England and Wales. This evidence supports the theory that exposure to infections, mediated by population mixing, may be an important factor in many cases of SIDS. In this paper, multilevel modelling is used to examine the variability in SIDS deaths at different geographical scales, namely district, county, and regional levels. Given the population-mixing hypothesis, it is possible that high levels of population mixing in one district will have an effect on the spread of infections in an adjacent district, and the rates for individual districts will not be spatially independent of each other. Factors such as climate varying at regional scale may also be important. A log—linear multilevel model is developed to examine these issues, and the discussion focuses on the methodological issues raised by the analysis such as appropriate multilevel structure, methods of estimation, dispersion of residuals, and significance of parameter estimates.

Date: 1997
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:29:y:1997:i:4:p:629-640

DOI: 10.1068/a290629

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