Level and trend of low birth weight mortality in children under 1 year old in China, 2004-2018

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the level and trend of low birth weight mortality in children under 1 year old in China from 2004 to 2018. Methods: The published Data Set of National Mortality Surveillance from 2004 to 2018 was used to analyze the low birth weight mortality rate, constituent ratio and changing trend in boys and girls, in urban area and rural area and in different regions in China. The Joinpoint regression model fitted by the weighted least square method was used to analyze the time variation trend and calculate the annual percentage change (APC), the average annual percentage change (AAPC) and their 95% confidence intervals in each time period. Results: From 2004 to 2018, the low birth weight mortality rate in children under 1 year old in China showed a decreasing trend with an AAPC of -8.0% (95%CI: -10.6% --5.4%). The differences between boys and girls, between urban area and rural area and among different regions gradually reduced. From 2004 to 2018, the constituent ratio of low birth weight mortality showed an increasing trend with an AAPC of 1.6% (95%CI: 0.1%-3.2%). The mortality rate in urban area (38.74 per 100 000) was higher than that in rural area (30.44 per 100 000). The annual average declining speed of low birth weight mortality rate in urban area (AAPC=-3.4%, 95%CI: -7.0%-0.3%) was slower than that in rural area (AAPC=-9.3%, 95%CI: -12.0% --6.6%). The low birth weight mortality rate of boys (36.25 per 100 000) was higher than that of girls (28.22 per 100 000). The low birth weight mortality constituent ratio in western region showed an increasing trend, its average annual percentage change (AAPC=3.2%, 95%CI: 1.7%-4.8%) increased faster than that of the eastern region (AAPC=-0.5%, 95%CI: -2.3%-1.4%). In urban and rural areas and different regions, the rate of low birth weight mortality in boys was higher than that in girls. Conclusions: From 2004 to 2018, the mortality rate of low birth weight in children under 1 year old showed a downward trend, and the constituent ratio showed an upward trend. Boys and children living in central and western regions should be the key population for maternal and child health care.