[Mortality rate and causes of death of premature and low-birth-weight infants in 18 cities].

The investigation at 19 hospitals in 18 cities showed that the incidence of premature and low-birth-weight (LBW) infant in live births was 4.9% and 5.1% respectively. The mortality rate was as high as 85.5/1000 and 97.7/1000 and the deaths accounted for 45.9% and 54.5% of total neonatal deaths respectively. The male infant's mortality rate was higher than the female; the twins' and triplets' was higher than the single births'. The mortality was mainly attributed to the preterm, LBW and related diseases. The first six causes of deaths were respiratory diseases, prenatal asphyxia, infection, scleredema congenital malformation and intracranial hemorrhage. The approaches for reducing the mortality rate of premature and LBW infants were discussed.