- J Kvasnicka: TUV Rheinland, Epidemiologie und Notfallschutz, Köln.
Infant mortality was documented for the Federal Republic of Germany as well as for the individual Federal Laender (before German unification) during 1973 and 1988. 31 Cause-of-Death groups, 5 Age-of-Death groups, and both sexes were considered. During the observation period the infant mortality rate decreased to 1/3 of the value of 1973 and is now well below 1%. The temporal decrease of infant mortality is different with regard to causes of death, age of death, sex, and Federal Land: Infant mortality due to congenital malformations decreased to about one half within the observation period, but its relative contribution to all natural causes of death increased from about 20% in 1973 to about 30% in 1988.