Rural-urban differences in infant and child mortality among the Temne of Kolifa.

Abstract

In this paper, the author's census data, collected in 1963, are used to compare infant and child mortality among the Temne of the rural chiefdom of Kolifa Mayoso and the nearby provincial town of Magburaka in central Sierra Leone. Problems in data collection and analysis are considered, and Temne cultural beliefs and practices which may influence early mortality levels are described. Comparative data from Sierra Leone, as well as other West African countries and the United States, are utilized with respect to late fetal (stillborn), perinatal, neonatal, post-neonatal, infant, and child mortality. Data relating to sex differences in early mortality and to higher mortality in cases of multiple births are included. The relatively high child mortality (probably weaning-related) in relation to infant mortality for both rural and urban series, and the lower urban than rural rates, exemplify the prevailing pattern for West Africa and, perhaps, for less developed areas generally.