Determinant factors of under-five mortality in rural Ethiopia

Under-five mortality is a crucial sign of how well a country's healthcare system is performing. Despite a slight drop, Ethiopia's under-five mortality rate is still high in the nation's rural areas. So this study aimed to identify determinant factors of under-five mortality in rural Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional community-based survey was carried out. A total of 4414 weighted under-five children from nine geographical regions and one administrative city of Ethiopia were included in the EMDHS 2019 dataset by removing urban residents. The statistical program SPSS version 26 was used to examine the data. To determine if the dependent and independent variables are associated with one another, binary and multivariable logistic regression was utilized.

Out of 4414 total under-five children, 267(6%) of them were dead before the age of five years. Of all, 4414 (46.6%) respondents were from Tigray, Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP. Nearly Three-fourth of respondents were in the age group between 15-34 years (78%). The odd ratio of under-five mortality of Elementary school attended women was 0.31(AOR = 0.31, 95% CI= (0.16, 0.62)) times less likely than No educated women. Women who attended Secondary school was 0.09(AOR = 0.09, 95% CI= (0.05, 0.15)), Women who attended Higher school was 0.27(AOR = 0.09, 95% CI= (0.13, 0.58)) times less likely than women had no formal education.

Conclusion: From the current study the researcher Conclude that under-five mortality was very high in rural Ethiopia. The mothers' educational level, Ages of mothers, marital status, breastfeeding, birth type, Source of water, toilet facility and Place of delivery were major determinant factors of under-five mortality. This research suggests that encouraging women to birth in health facilities and expanding possibilities for mothers' education for rural residents will assist to lessen the burden of under-five mortality.