Social factors associated with infants' mortality

Abstract

Introduction: One of the important health indices showing health status of a society is mortality rate of children <1 year-old. There are many social factors that are able to weaken the growth and development in children. This research tried to investigate the effects of some these factors such as educational level, parents' jobs, maternal care, time spent for childcare and breast feeding habit on <1 year-old mortality rate.

Methods: This was a comparative retrospective study in which, there were 121 less then 1 year-old children (dead and live) referred to Isfahan health centers. They were categorized into two groups. The data were collected by questionnaires. Content validity and standardized fixed forms were used for questionnaire validity and reliability, respectively. The data were analyzed by descriptive inferential statistics (X², t-test, Mantel Hanzel and column chart) through SPSS software.

Results: The findings showed a significant association between parents education, fathers and mothers jobs, breast feeding habit, the time spent for child care, maternal care and mortality of children <1 year-old.

Conclusion: It seems that health strategies may play major roles in prediction and control of social factors affecting infants' mortality rate. These roles can be in forms of promoting plans in education, socio-economic and cultural status.