Public Health and Nutrition

Biography

Biography: Gbenga

Abstract

Background: Neonatal mortality is a global challenge, and Nigeria continues to bear the greatest burden in Africa. Therefore identification of individual and community determinants associated with it are important for targeted interventions. However in most developing countries including Nigeria this problem has not been adequately investigated as the impact of proximate factors remains undetermined despite their significant influence on neonatal mortality and morbidity. Methods and findings Neonatal death of all live born infants between 2008-2013 was extracted from the NDHS survey data, that made use of a multi-stage cluster sampling design, mortality information of the 1189 neonates was obtained and analyzed. First, neonatal mortality rates by individual and community level factors was determined , chi-square test was used to test the association of social, economic and demographic characteristics of mothers with the experience of neonatal death. Subsequently, a logistic regression model was used to estimate the relative association of factors that influence neonatal mortality after excluding variables that were not significant at the bivariate level. The results showed both individual and community characteristics to be associated with neonatal mortality. The mean age of the mothers was 29±7years. female neonates(OR= 0.74 CI:0.64–0.84), neonates that were breastfed (OR=0.39,CI:0.33-0.45), neonates that were adequately spaced (OR= 0.56, CI:0.46-0.68)and of a higher birth order (OR=0.61, CI=0.46-0.82)had a higher probability of surviving the neonatal period. In contrast, neonates delivered through caesarean section (OR=1.81, CI=0.10-2.7)and delivered by non-professionals (OR=1.40,CI:1.07-1.82 )were more likely to die during the neonatal period. Adequate utilization of antenatal and postnatal health care services reduced the likelihood of neonatal mortality. Residing in a rural area with high socioeconomic deprivation was associated with neonatal mortality (OR=1.29 ,CI 1.10-1.52). Conclusion: Both individual and community characteristics showed a significant impact on neonatal survival. Implementation of community-based interventions targeting basic education, poverty alleviation, women empowerment and an increased focus on the continuum-of-care approach in health care service will improve neonatal survival. Keywords: Neonatal mortality, Individual factors, Community factors, Multivariate analysis, Nigeria, NDHS,2013.