221 - Paternal Mortality During the First Five Years of Childhood, Georgia, 2017

Poster Number: 221
Publication Number: 221.1235

Background: The death of a parent can be devastating for a child and the family system and have public health implications. Understanding whether, when and how fathers die in early childhood may provide public health insights that could benefit family systems, yet little is known about rates, patterns and characteristics of father deaths during the vulnerable first years of a child’s life.

Objective: To determine the characteristics and prevalence of men in the state of Georgia who die during the first five years of their child’s life.

Design/Methods: All 2017 infant birth certificates (BC, n=130,267) reported in the Electronic Birth Registration System were linked to 2017-2022 death certificates (DC, n= 596,385) for fathers using Microsoft SQL Server via deterministic linkage and manual review. Linkage algorithms included use of social security number, first name, last name, date of birth. Analysis includes descriptive statistics, trends by year, information on causes and manner of death, and death rate comparisons.

Results: Of the 130,267 live births in Georgia in 2017, 114,846 (88%) had a father listed; 796 father death certificates were linked to infant birth certificates. Deceased fathers were 46% Black non-Hispanic, 37% White non-Hispanic, with 6% Hispanic ethnicity, compared to 30% Black non-Hispanic, 43% White non-Hispanic and 13% Hispanic fathers overall in Georgia for the 2017 birth year [Table 1]. Manner of death was 39% natural, 61% non-natural (29% accidental, 18% homicide, and 13% suicide). Average age of child at father’s death was 33 months. Underlying causes of death include homicide by firearm (131,17%), vehicles (115, 15%), heart disease (109, 14%), accidental death due to drug use (86, 11%), suicide by firearm (74, 9%), cancer (58, 7%), and COVID (42, 5%).

Fathers in this sample had a death rate of 693 per 100,000 (796/114,846 * 100,000), compared to the overall death rate of 341 per 100,000 (from Georgia OASIS) of men (435 per 100,000 for Black non-Hispanic; 350 per 100,000 for White non-Hispanic and 186 per 100,000 Hispanic men) aged 20-54 in Georgia for the years 2017-2022.

Conclusion(s): In Georgia, men who were fathers had a higher death rate than those who were not fathers, with fathers who died in the first five years of their child’s life experiencing high rates of non-natural deaths. Examining paternal mortality may help identify opportunities for public, family and child health interventions.