Related Experiment Videos
Early child health in Lahore, Pakistan: X. Mortality
1Department of Paediatrics, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.
Insights
Infant mortality in Pakistan is high, especially in poorer areas, with infections and birth complications being leading causes. Interventions should focus on antenatal care, safe delivery, and preventing early childhood infections.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Infant mortality remains a critical public health issue in developing nations.
- Understanding the specific determinants of early-life mortality is essential for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe infant mortality patterns in Pakistan based on age, cause, living area, season, and sex.
- To identify key risk factors and age-specific mortality trends in Pakistani infants.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study of 1476 infants born between September 1984 and March 1987 in Pakistan.
- Analysis of mortality data stratified by age, cause of death, socioeconomic status (area of living), and season.
Main Results:
- The projected infant mortality rate was 114 deaths per 1000 live births, and under-two-year mortality was 127 per 1000 live births.
- Mortality rates varied significantly by living area, with higher rates in villages and peri-urban slums compared to urban slums and upper-middle-class areas.
- Major causes of death included acute/prolonged diarrhea (36%), birth asphyxia (13%), respiratory infections (13%), and neonatal sepsis (11%).
- A significant proportion of deaths occurred within the first 28 days of life (57%), with birth asphyxia being the primary cause in the neonatal period (86% of first-day deaths).
- Infections were the predominant cause of death in later infancy (82% of total deaths in older age groups).
Conclusions:
- Early infant mortality in Pakistan is significantly influenced by socioeconomic factors and is highly age-dependent.
- Urgent interventions are needed, focusing on improved antenatal care, safe delivery practices, and postnatal infection prevention, particularly in the first six months of life.
Abstract:
Mortality during the first two years of life among 1476 Pakistani infants born between September 1984 and March 1987 is described according to age, causes of death, area of living, season of the year and sex. The mortality rate (deaths under two years/1000 live births) projected over the whole population of Pakistan was 127 and under one year 114. During the first two years of life, the mortality rate was 133/1000 in the village, 159 in the periurban slum, 107 in the urban slum and 17 in the upper middle class group. In the latter group all deaths had occurred within 72 hours after birth. The overall major causes of death were acute and prolonged diarrhoea (36%), asphyxia neonatorum (13%), respiratory infections (13%), septicaemia (11%) and tetanus (9%). A clear age dependency was noted with 14% of deaths occurring during the first 24 hours of life (asphyxia neonatorum in 86%), and 57% dying within the first 28 days of life. In the later age groups, infections were mainly responsible for 82% of total deaths. Early mortality was therefore extremely high in the poorer areas studied and the cause of death was highly age dependent. Any interventions for reducing mortality must therefore be directed towards better antenatal care and safe delivery and postnatally, towards preventing infections, especially during the first six months of life.