The PowerPoint presentation, sponsored by CityMatch, March of Dimes and the CDC, provides a brief introduction about how Perinatal Periods of Risk (PPOR) analysis works and how it helps communities prioritize infant mortality reduction efforts based on data.

As described by the sponsors, “PPOR provides structure, strategies, and specific analytic methods for analyzing vital records data, as well as strategies for using community data for evidence-based decision making.  PPOR is both a community approach and an analytic method.  It is used in large urban areas (cities or counties) with high infant mortality rates.  PPOR is NOT useful for places or sub-populations with fewer than 60 infant deaths in a five-year period.  PPOR analytic methods are based on the principle that the infant mortality rate in every population group should be as low as the rate in the “best case” reference group. Higher rates are termed “excess mortality”, which is a measure of how many of the deaths were preventable.

The first phase of PPOR analysis uses local vital records data files to identify the periods of risk that contribute most to the community’s preventable deaths and narrows the focus to the periods with the most potential for impact.

The second phase uses vital records and other data sources to find the most important underlying causes or biological mechanisms for excess mortality, and which of the known risk and protective factors are most important in this particular community.

This information assists community stakeholders in prioritizing action based on the best available information.

The PowerPoint presentation (without audio) is at
http://webmedia.unmc.edu/Community/CityMatch/PPOR/archive/130820/PPORAnalysis101.pdf