Spatiotemporal pattern and factors related to infant mortality in Northeast Brazil.

Abstract

To analyze the spatiotemporal pattern and factors related to infant mortality in Northeastern Brazil from 2008 to 2018. Ecological study developed with infant deaths that occurred in the Northeast and reported in the Mortality Information System. Non-spatial and spatial regression models were used to identify indicators related to infant mortality. The mortality rate showed a decreasing trend of 2.1% per year (95% CI: -2.7 - -1.6; p<0.001), with higher Bayesian coefficients concentrated in in municipalities in the interior of Piauí. The variables related to infant mortality were: Gini Index (β = 6.56; p=0.01), Municipal Human Development Index (β = -22.21; p 0.001), dependency ratio (β = 0.16; p <0.001), percentage of people in households without electricity (β = -0.12; p<0.001) and percentage of women aged 10 to 17 who had children (β=0.19; p=0.01). There was a decrease in infant mortality during the studied period and high Bayesian rates in the interior of Piauí.