Determinants of Infant and Child Mortalities in Iran

More than ۱۵,۰۰۰ children die every day worldwide, while the rate of this mortality and determinants varied by individual, cultural, biographical and socio-economic characteristics in different countries. Child survival is associated by various risk factors including maternal education, rates of polygamous, birth spacing, early marriage, utilization of modern healthcare facilities, gender-based disparities, environments, water, health-seeking behaviors, sanitation, socioeconomic status, public sector health workforce and health financing. In ۲۰۱۷, the under-five mortality rate (U۵MR) in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries was ۲۳ per ۱,۰۰۰ live births; more than ۶ times higher than the average rate in Western Europe countries. In Iran, as a result of expansion of health networks and increasing access to primary health care, U۵MR have also fallen from ۵۶ deaths per ۱,۰۰۰ live births in ۱۹۹۰ to ۱۶ deaths in ۲۰۱۵. Despite the dramatic decline in child mortality, more than half of these deaths seem to be preventable. Data was collected using scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Keywords like 'Nursing Role in Drug Development,' 'Innovative Drugs,' 'Nurses in Clinical Trials,' and 'Nursing and Biotechnology' were searched. Articles published between the years ۲۰۰۰ and ۲۰۲۳ were reviewed. In infants 'Birth weight', and 'Mother's literacy' have been studied in ۵ studies, and in all of them a significant association with child mortality has been found. Also, in ۴ studies 'socioeconomic status' and in ۳ studies the relationship between 'pregnancy interval', 'Place of residence', 'type of nutrition', 'father's literacy', 'still birth' and child death has been reviewed, respectively. In all ۳ studies, the relationship was significant. In ۲ studies, association between 'child gender', 'abortion', and GDP per capita and child death were significant. In children group, the association of 'birth weight' with mortality was examined in ۳ studies, so that in all ۳ studies this relationship was significant. The 'socioeconomic status', and 'mother's literacy' were another factors examined frequently in the Iranian studies (n=۴ studies) and in these studies found a significant relationship. 'Delivery type' was discovered to be a significant factor associated with mortality in ۲ studies. Improving pregnancy care due to the various effects on health status of children can be the most important intervention to reduce children death. In addition, as most of these factors and preventable and avoidable, many programs and strategies could be developed and implemented to reduce child mortality, as much as possible to reaching to the lowest possible rate and should be as a continue action in promoting Iranian children. Understanding these determinants is of particular importance for implementing specific interventions for each age group in order to reduce effectively the burden of mortalities in the country. Based on the finding of study policymakers can use this information for planning, program intervention to reduce child. For example, efforts to carry out appropriate interventions to improve the nutritional status of mothers, increase health literacy during pregnancy, pay more attention to mothers with low socioeconomic status, promote natural childbirth and improve prenatal care can be useful in controlling child mortality.

کلیدواژه ها:

Child mortality ، Infant mortality ، Iran