Effect of determinants of infant and child mortality in Nigeria: Hazard and odds ratio models

Abstract

Infant and child mortality is a major public health problem; however, quantifying its burden in a population is a challenge. Routine data collected provided a proxy for measuring the incidence of mortality among children under five years of age and for crudely estimating mortality rate. The data collected from National Demography Health Survey [NDHS, 2013] were used to investigate the determinants of infant and child mortality in Nigeria. Cox proportional, logistic model were developed to timely hazardously and probabilistically continuous variable, mother age and other specific covariates such as educational level, household income level, residence type and place of delivery which are categorical data.The Cox proportional analysis showed that the hazard risk and odds ratios of infant and child mortality are significantly less frequent over specified covariates, insignificant in residence type but significant in odds ratio. Also, there is an increased risk of infant and child mortality in place of delivery. It is evident from the results obtained that social economic risk factors contribute significantly to infant and child mortality in Nigeria. Finally these findings revealed that Mothers’ educational level determines place of delivery (home, health centre) which should be improved; increase in household income contributes to child survival and reduces child mortality in Nigeria

Key words: odds ratio, hazard ratio, mortality