Survival Analysis of Under-Five Child Mortality and Its Associated Risk Factors in Northern Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Survival Analysis of Under-Five Child Mortality and Its Associated Risk Factors in Northern Nigeria

Makanju. Adebayo.O.*, Alex .Uriri .E.

Department of Geography and Planning, University of Lagos, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author

Abstract:- National developmental indices in Nigeria make for a bleak reading; paramount among this is the high prevailing under-5 child mortality rates which as a continuum, is a major public health challenge. The polarization of childhood health outcomes across regions still persist, this reality is being exacerbated by social and economic inequalities. We attempt to investigate the impact of individual-level and community-level risk predictors associated with child survival in the Northern region of Nigeria. A population-based cross-sectional study design was employed to investigate under-five child risk factors, using data from the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (2013); Analysis was done using inferential statistics, and multi-level survival model. This study utilized an excellent predictive model which revealed that the likelihood of under-5 mortality in Northern Nigeria had an inverse relationship with the level of maternal education. After adjustment for individual-level and community-level predictors, most of the regional disparity in under-5 mortality was explained by differences in place of residence, population density and malaria prevalence. In the light of the findings, we posit that the realities of left behind children is endemic in Northern Nigeria and thus both individual-level and community-level based interventions should be effected in a bid to drastically elevate under-five child survival odds in this region. This paper extends on the literature of child mortality in Nigeria, by investigating the impact of individual-level and community-level risk predictors associated with child survival in Northern Nigeria.

Keywords: Community-level Predictors; Cox proportional-hazard; Child mortality;Hazard ratio; Northern Nigeria

I. INTRODUCTION

Mortality among under-5 children de-accelerated in most developing countries from the mid-1980s and throughout the early part of the 21st century. However, this decline has recently slowed, stopped, or reversed itself among a growing list of countries within sub-Saharan Africa (Rustein, 2000; UNICEF, 2017). It is estimated that around 5.6 million children die before their fifth birth, mostly due to preventable causes and treatable disease such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, even though the knowledge and technologies for life-saving interventions are available (UN IGME, 2017; UNICEF, 2017).

Read More