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Objective: To examine the impact of education on race differences in neonatal and postneonatal mortality. Methods: Data were from North Carolina's Linked Birth and Infant Death File for 1988 through 1993. The study population included 169 601 African American births and 400 359 European American births, with 2606 and 3060 deaths, respectively. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effects of race and education on neonatal and postneonatal mortality, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical risk factors. Results: Risks of death were higher for African Americans than for European Americans, more so in the neonatal than in the postneonatal period. Odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) comparing African Americans to European Americans were as follows: neonatal deaths, 2.2 (1.9-2.5), 2.3 (2.1-2.6), and 2.8 (2.5-3.2) for less than 12, 12, and more than 12 years of education; and postneonatal deaths, 1.3 (1.1-1.6), 1.5 (1.3-1.7), and 2.1 (1.7-2.6), respectively. The biggest gap was for deaths in the first day of life, with odds ratios ranging from 2.8 to 3.6. Education had no impact on neonatal mortality in either race. Medical factors were more influential in the neonatal than in the postneonatal period, whereas environmental and social factors appeared to play a greater role in the postneonatal period. Conclusions: Racial differences in neonatal death are increasing and may be related to inequities in the provision of health care. The racial gap in the postneonatal period, although declining, has not disappeared and may be more related to environmental, social, and economic factors. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151:787-792, Increased education among African American women has not reduced the rates of neonatal and postneonatal death in North Carolina. Researchers reviewed infant birth and death statistics in NC from 1988 to 1993. Black children were about twice as likely to die before their first birthday as children of European American ethnicity. Maternal education did not reduce the rates of death in the first month of life, but was associated with fewer deaths in European American children aged 1 mo to 1 yr. Racial disparities may result from differing qualities of prenatal and postnatal health care.

Blacks have a higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy than whites. Several population-based studies have reported an inverse association between adiponectin and left ventricular mass (LVM); however, the relationship between adiponectin levels and LVM has yet to be defined in blacks. The Jackson Heart Study cohort provides an opportunity to test the hypothesis that the inverse association between adiponectin and LVM may be modified by risk factors common among blacks.

To test whether the association between depression and inflammation differs by race and sex. Depressive symptoms have been associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). However, few studies have examined this association in samples including a significant number of African Americans, or examined whether the association differs by race and sex.