Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 202-205. (Budapest, 2008)

TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - VARGA, Gabriella: A comparative study of the social-political determinants of infant and child mortality in Sweden and Hungary 1850-1945. - Összehasonlító tanulmány a svéd és a magyar csecsemőhalandóság szociálpolitikai tényezőiről 1850 és 1945 között

We have data which suggest that what Simdbärg (1898-99) found to be different between Western and Eastern Europe, like economy, democracy might be the reasons for the different IMR, too. He also mentioned literacy as differences between the East and the West but he also mentioned that Hungary was an exception among Eastern European countries with lower illiteracy rate. However the literacy rate was very heterogeneous and in our study we can not conclude any secure correlation between illiteracy and IMR as we expected. The overall conclusion is that it is very difficult to make comparisons because the circumstances might be very different in particular determinants and very similar in others. These can also develop differently during the study period making it harder to present a multilevel analysis. Limitations of the study Our studys weaknesses and limitations can be defined as following: • We only used aggregated data no individual data. • We conclude general statements although sources are sometimes cross sectional data or case studies • No assessment was made of the quality of the data source, of death causes and of confounders. • The study base and the definition of the socioeconomic classes are not always specified clearly. All these biases might cause distortion of our comparative study but it can serve as a background for further studies. Acknowledgement I wish to thank you, who helped me in one or another way on this journey. My supervisor Bo Burström, professor Hans Rosling, my parents, my boyfriend Szabolcs Daróczy who helped me with everything around this thesis; the professional and very helpful personal at the libraries, researchers at the Hungarian Semmelweis Library of the History of Medicine and the LLungarian Statistical Central Bureau in Budapest, my friends, who gave your opinion on the content and the language of this paper: Zsuzsa Cseke, Diana Popa and Veronika Papp. GABRIELLA VARGA (VARGABI_4@HOTMAIL.COM) KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN ÖSSZEFOGLALÁS A tanulmány célja azoknak a tényezőknek a vizsgálata, amelyek részben magyarázhatják a svéd és a magyar gyermek- és csecsemőhalandóság közötti különbséget az 1850-1945 közötti időszakban. A csecsemők szoptatási szokásait, az oltást, a szülők társadalmi és gazdasági státuszát, az iskolázottságot, a család lakásviszonyait, valamint az állam szerepét