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All-cause mortality among young children in western Kenya. VI: the Asembo Bay Cohort Project

P D McElroy1, F O ter Kuile, A W Hightower

  • 1Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. pgm9@cdc.gov

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
|June 27, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Infant mortality rates in rural Kenya are alarmingly high, with a 26.5% cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality in children under five. These findings highlight critical health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.

Area of Science:

  • Child Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health in Africa

Background:

  • All-cause mortality data for rural sub-Saharan Africa, especially community-based infant mortality rates, are scarce.
  • The Asembo Bay Cohort Project (ABCP) in western Kenya established a fixed birth cohort to address this data gap.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To estimate all-cause mortality rates in children during their first five years of life.
  • To provide community-based mortality estimates in an area of intense Plasmodium falciparum transmission.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal follow-up of over 1,500 children enrolled at birth between 1992 and 1996.
  • Household surveys in early 1999 to determine the survival status of live births.

Main Results:

  • The cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality for the 1992-1996 birth cohort was 26.5% (95% CI, 24.1-28.9%).
  • Neonatal and infant mortality rates were 32 and 176 per 1,000 live births, respectively.
  • These rates are substantially higher than national estimates for Kenya.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides crucial baseline data on childhood mortality in a high-transmission malaria area.
  • Findings will aid future monitoring of mortality changes related to disease control programs (e.g., malaria, HIV/AIDS).

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