Abstract
Background: Although the economic conditions in Ethiopian households have recently improved, under-five mortality has remained one of the major problems in the country. Identification of the risk factors for under-five mortality is an important problem that needs to be addressed. This study aimed to estimate the effect of socio-economic and demographic factors on under-five mortality in Ethiopia. Methods: Data consisting of a nationally representative sample of 26370 children in the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey was analyzed. The survey logistic regression model was adopted for analysis. The outcome variable was the child’s survival status i.e. the child being either alive or dead. The explanatory variables were the socio-economic and demographic factors for mother and child, respectively. Results: The overall significance of all variables was investigated, and the following variables were found to have significant effect on the under-five mortality in Ethiopia: the sex of child, mother’s age at birth, the region, area of residence and educational of the mother. Conclusion: This study suggests that improving the educational level of mothers and reducing the regional disparity can reduce child mortality in Ethiopia.
Highlights
Many developing countries all over the world experience a high number of deaths among children below the age of five
More than three-fourths of the children were living in rural areas (85.63%) while the remaining 14.37% of the children were living in urban areas
The results from the survey logistic regression analysis suggested that living in Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela and Affar regions, child being a male, living in rural areas, having mothers above 19 years of age groups, and having mothers with no education were common significant determinants for under-five mortality in Ethiopia
Summary
Many developing countries all over the world experience a high number of deaths among children below the age of five (under-five mortality). Under-five mortality is largely related to the quality of life and the well-being of a population. It is one of the serious issues facing Sub-Saharan Africa regions, and many countries throughout the world. This shows the importance of interventions to reduce the rates of under-five mortality. One of them is the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4), which aimed to reduce under-five mortality rates by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 [1]. The economic conditions in Ethiopian households have recently improved, under-five mortality has remained one of the major problems in the country.
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