Cause of death among infants in rural western China: a community-based study using verbal autopsy

To determine the causes of death among infants in high-mortality areas of western China with the use of globally recognized methods.

A survey of all infant deaths identified over 1 year in 4 counties in Yunnan and Xinjiang in which combined verbal autopsy was combined with a physician's diagnosis of the cause to calculate the local infant mortality rate.

Among 470 completed investigations, a cause of death was assigned to 423 cases (90%). Overall, pneumonia (34.5%), preterm birth complications (16.5%), diarrhea (10.4%), birth asphyxia (10.3%), and congenital abnormalities (8.5%) were the main causes, with 56.6% of deaths occurring in the neonatal period. Deaths were attributable predominantly to prematurity or birth asphyxia in the early neonatal period, whereas infection accounted for more than 60% and 80% of deaths in the late and postneonatal periods, respectively. Calculated infant mortality was 21.9 in 1000 live births.

The pattern of infant mortality observed in the surveyed counties differs markedly from that reported previously at the national level, with a high proportion the result of causes that may be preventable with globally recommended interventions. Financial and political support is needed to promote improved cause of death surveillance and newborn and infant health care in China's western region.