Understanding why children die in high-income countries

This study examines the factors that contribute to the rate of child mortality within a country. Through regression analysis, this model attempts to explain the rate of child mortality for a country as a function of factors including the adult female literacy rate, fertility rates, adult female labor force participation, rate of immunization for tuberculosis, access to safe water, income per capita, and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus. This paper surveys a range of low-income countries from different regions including Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, and Latin America. The data used in the study is gathered from reliable databases including the World Bank, the CIA World Fact Book, UNESCO, and the World Health Organization. It was found that the rate of fertility, adult female literacy rate, prevalence of HIV, and access to an improved water source all significantly impacted the rate of child mortality for a country. My intention with this study is to contribute towards, or confirm existing, research on this topic, and increase knowledge available for activists who can then have a more specific focus in their efforts to eliminate unacceptably high rates of child mortality.

2013

Background: Teso sub-region of Eastern Uganda had superior indices of childhood survival during the period 1959 to 1969 compared to the national average. We analysed the reasons that could explain this situation with a view of suggesting strategies for reducing childhood mortality. Methods: We compared the childhood mortalities and their average annual reduction rate (AARR) of Teso subregion with those of Uganda for the period 1959 to 1969. We also compared indicators of social economic well being (such as livestock per capita and per capita intake of protein/energy). In addition data was compared on other important determinants of child survival such as level of education and rate of urbanisation. Findings: In 1969 the infant mortality rate (IMR) for Teso was 94 per 1000 live births compared to the 120 for

Global Health Action, 2014

Background: Childhood mortality, particularly in the first 5 years of life, is a major global concern and the target of Millennium Development Goal 4. Although the majority of childhood deaths occur in Africa and Asia, these are also the regions where such deaths are least likely to be registered. The INDEPTH Network works to alleviate this problem by collating detailed individual data from defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By registering deaths and carrying out verbal autopsies to determine cause of death across many such sites, using standardised methods, the Network seeks to generate population-based mortality statistics that are not otherwise available. Objective: To present a description of cause-specific mortality rates and fractions over the first 15 years of life as documented by INDEPTH Network sites in sub-Saharan Africa and south-east Asia. Design: All childhood deaths at INDEPTH sites are routinely registered and followed up with verbal autopsy (VA) interviews. For this study, VA archives were transformed into the WHO 2012 VA standard format and processed using the InterVA-4 model to assign cause of death. Routine surveillance data also provided persontime denominators for mortality rates. Cause-specific mortality rates and cause-specific mortality fractions are presented according to WHO 2012 VA cause groups for neonatal, infant, 1Á4 year and 5Á14 year age groups. Results: A total of 28,751 childhood deaths were documented during 4,387,824 person-years over 18 sites. Infant mortality ranged from 11 to 78 per 1,000 live births, with under-5 mortality from 15 to 152 per 1,000 live births. Sites in Vietnam and Kenya accounted for the lowest and highest mortality rates reported. Conclusions: Many children continue to die from relatively preventable causes, particularly in areas with high rates of malaria and HIV/AIDS. Neonatal mortality persists at relatively high, and perhaps sometimes underdocumented, rates. External causes of death are a significant childhood problem in some settings.

Malaysian Journal Of Nursing, 2012

"Each year 10.6 million children under the age of five die worldwide (Razum and Breckenkamp, 2007). This study determined the factors that significantly influenced child mortality rates globally. Data mining was utilized and profiling of the countries was done based on country characteristics namely: health workforce density, population density, geographical location, total health expenditure, national average income per capita and immunization status. In order to determine the significant factors affecting child mortality rate, multiple regression was used. Minitab was used to process the data. The results of the study revealed that of the factors, only health workforce density, geographical location and immunization status exert significant influence on child mortality rate. Child mortality rate can be determined by health service delivery (health workforce density and immunization status) and geographical factors of the countries worldwide. Government initiatives play a vital role in radically reducing child mortality rate. Health is both a personal and social responsibility. Keywords: Child, mortality rate, health workforce density, geographical location and immunization status "

British Medical Bulletin, 2010

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the probability of dying in childhood is strongly related to the socio-economic position of the parents or household in which the child is born. This article reviews the evidence on the magnitude of socio-economic inequalities in childhood mortality within LMICs, discusses possible causes and highlights entry points for intervention. Sources of data Evidence on socio-economic inequalities in childhood mortality in LMICs is mostly based on data from household surveys and demographic surveillance sites. Childhood mortality is systematically and considerably higher among lower socio-economic groups within countries. Also most proximate mortality determinants, including malnutrition, exposure to infections, maternal characteristics and health care use show worse levels among more deprived groups. The magnitude of inequality varies between countries and over time, suggesting its amenability to intervention. Reducing inequalities in childhood mortality would substantially contribute to improving population health and reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The contribution of specific determinants, including national policies, to childhood mortality inequalities remains uncertain. What works to reduce these inequalities, in particular whether policies should be universal or targeted to the poor, is much debated. The increasing political attention for addressing health inequalities needs to be accompanied by more evidence on the contribution of specific determinants, and on ways to ensure that interventions reach lower socio-economic groups.

2002

Riassunto: I tassi di mortalità in età pediatrica sono diminuiti in modo rilevante nei Paesi sviluppati durante ultimi decenni. Nel primo anno di vita le malformazioni congenite, la SIDS e le condizioni perinatali sono le cause più frequenti di morte. Gli incidenti e i tumori sono invece le cause più ricorrenti per i bambini di età 1-14 anno. Campagne mirate alla prevenzione degli incidenti, l’introduzione di antibiotici e di vaccini e lo sviluppo di terapie efficaci contro i tumori hanno contribuito alla riduzione della mortalità. Nei paesi anglosassoni, dove sono disponibili dati disaggregati per classi socio-economiche, la mortalità nei bambini nati nelle famiglie più disagiate è doppia di quella che si osserva nei figli di famiglie abbienti. Una riduzione delle diseguaglianze sociali che si riflettono sulla mortalità resta un obiettivo da raggiungere nella maggior parte dei paesi sviluppati, così come un più equo accesso ai servizi sanitari.

2019

Citation: Etikan I, Babatope O, Bala K, İlgi S (2019) Child Mortality: A Comparative Study of Some Developing Countries in the World. Int J Clin Biostat Biom 5:022. doi.org/10.23937/2469-5831/1510022 Accepted: September 28, 2019: Published: September 30, 2019 Copyright: © 2019 Etikan I, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas médicas e biológicas / Sociedade Brasileira de Biofísica ... [et al.], 2007

Few studies have described factors associated with infant and adolescent mortality since birth. We report here mortality during a 20-year period in a birth cohort from Ribeirão Preto in order to identify birth variables that influenced mortality among infants and children between 10 and 19 years of age, the main causes of death, and the influence of social inequality at birth on death. Mothers were interviewed shortly after delivery. Social, biological and demographic information was collected, and mortality up to 19 years of age was investigated in registry systems. Of the 6748 liveborn singletons born in the municipality from 1978 to 1979, 343 died before or when 19 years of age were completed. Most of the cohort mortality (74.9%) occurred during the first year of life and 19.6% occurred from 10 to 19 years. Mortality was higher among boys. Preterm birth (hazard ratio, HR = 7.94) and low birth weight (HR = 10.15) were strongly associated with infant mortality. Other risk factors f...

Background: Infant mortality is a global problem which the Millennium Development Goals has aimed to reduce by two-third by the year 2015. Several studies have linked social, behavioral and environmental factors to increased infant mortality rates in the past. The objective of this study was to review the existing literature on the effects of socio-behavioral and environmental factors affecting infant mortality. Methods: A search of the literature was carried out. The search was conducted using web browsers like Google scholar, Pub Med, Medline and sociological abstracts. The articles were chosen when they were found to be relevant and were reviewed accordingly. Initially, the search was limited to recent articles not earlier than year 2000. But, when enough materials were not found, the search was extended to older articles because they were found to be highly relevant for the study. Findings: This review revealed that social factors such as poverty, household income, mother's economic status, nature of care for infants, maternal age, breastfeeding, birth orders, birth intervals, place of delivery, income inequality, social policies, health scheme, mother's education and postnatal care were found to affect infant mortality. Similarly, environmental factors such as poor residential conditions, nature of water supply, particulate matter air pollution, poor sanitation, heavy metal poisoning and household environmental characteristics were found in the literature to be linked to infant mortality. Behaviors of pregnant women like cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, sedentary lifestyle, weight gain, utilization of prenatal care facilities and exercises were found to be closely related to infant mortality. Conclusion: It was concluded that many social, environmental and behavioral factors exist in the literature which were found to affect infant mortality. The knowledge of these factors should be utilized by both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the world to swing into action of arresting and preventing the menace of increasing infant mortality especially in the underdeveloped and developing countries.