Related Experiment Videos
Community based retrospective study of sex in infant mortality in India
R Khanna1, A Kumar, J F Vaghela
1Department of Community Medicine, St Stephen's Hospital, Tis Hazari, Delhi 110054, India.
Insights
Infant mortality in India is higher for girls, particularly from treatable conditions like diarrhea and unexplained causes. This suggests less favorable treatment of female infants contributes to the skewed sex ratio.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Demography
- Pediatrics
Background:
- India exhibits a skewed sex ratio at birth, with 869 females per 1000 males.
- Investigating infant mortality patterns is crucial for understanding demographic imbalances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if differential treatment of female infants contributes to India's sex ratio imbalance.
- To analyze infant mortality causes and their relation to sex.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of verbal autopsy reports from a community health project in urban India over five years.
- Examined deaths in infants under one year from all causes.
Main Results:
- Female infants had 1.3 times higher mortality (72 vs. 55 per 1000).
- Diarrhea caused twice as many deaths in girls; unexplained deaths were three times more common in girls.
- No significant sex differences in mortality from birth asphyxia, sepsis, prematurity, or congenital anomalies.
Conclusions:
- Higher unexplained and diarrhea-related deaths in girls suggest less favorable treatment.
- This differential treatment may explain the imbalance in the sex ratio at birth in India.
Objective:
To determine whether the imbalance in the sex ratio in India can be explained by less favourable treatment of girls in infancy.
Design:
Analysis of results of verbal autopsy reports over a five year period.
Setting:
Community health project in urban India.
Main Outcome Measures:
Deaths from all causes in infants aged less than 1 year.
Results:
The sex ratio at birth was 869 females per 1000 males. The mean infant mortality was 1.3 times higher in females than in males (72 v 55 per 1000). Diarrhoea was responsible for 22% of deaths overall, though twice as many girls died from diarrhoea. There were no significant differences in the numbers of deaths from causes such as birth asphyxia, septicaemia, prematurity, and congenital anomalies. In 10% of deaths there was no preceding illness and no satisfactory cause was found. Three out of every four such deaths were in girls.
Conclusions:
The excess number of unexplained deaths and deaths due to treatable conditions such as diarrhoeal disease in girls may be because girls are regarded and treated less favourably in India.