Determinants of under-five mortality in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The study objectives were to find out factors associated with infant and child mortality in Saudi Arabia using the 1987 Saudi National Child Health Survey data. This survey was conducted taking a stratified sample of over 8,400 ever married/divorced/widowed women having at least one under-five child from over 9,000 households. Interviews were conducted by 120 trained nurses. Over 13,300 children were included in the study. The infant mortality rate [IMR] and child mortality rate [CMR] for the year 1985 were 55 and 63 for males and 50 and 58 for females. The rates were higher for rural and southern regions and lower for urban and eastern. The mean number of deceased children increased with an increase in mother's age and the number of children previously born. The rate of child loss also increased with increase in parity. Reproductive behaviors, such as high rates of consanguineous marriage, lower rates of antenatal, natal, postnatal checkup, institutional delivery and diarrhea care were associated with higher rates of IMR and CMR. Multivariate analysis confirmed the effect of parents' education and father's occupation, as well as source of drinking water and place of defecation on IMR and CMR. Regional as well as literacy factors are amongst the important differentials affecting infant and child mortality in Saudi Arabia