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Individual-, household- and community-level determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia

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  • Girmay Tsegay Kiross
  • Catherine Chojenta
  • Daniel Barker
  • Deborah Loxton

Abstract

Introduction: People living in the same area share similar determinants of infant mortality, such as access to healthcare. The community’s prevailing norms and attitudes about health behaviours could also influence the health care decisions made by individuals. In diversified communities like Ethiopia, differences in child health outcomes might not be due to variation in individual and family characteristics alone, but also due to differences in the socioeconomic characteristics of the community where the child lives. While individual level characteristics have been examined to some extent, almost all studies into infant mortality conducted in Ethiopia have failed to consider the impact of community-level characteristics. Therefore, this study aims to identify individual and community level determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia. Method: Data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey in 2016 were used for this study. A total of 10641 live births were included in this analysis. A multi-level logistic regression analysis was used to examine both individual and community level determinants while accounting for the hierarchal structure of the data. Results: Individual-level characteristics such as infant sex have a statistically significant association with infant mortality. The odds of infant death before one year was 50% higher for males than females (AOR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.25–2.20; p-value

Suggested Citation

  • Girmay Tsegay Kiross & Catherine Chojenta & Daniel Barker & Deborah Loxton, 2021. "Individual-, household- and community-level determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0248501
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248501
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. George Wak & Samuel Oladokun & Alfred Manye & Timothy Awine & Joyce Komesuor & Raymond Aborigo, 2025. "Effect of Household Dynamics on Infant Mortality in the Kassena_Nankana Districts of Rural Northern Ghana, 1999–2018," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 18(2), pages 735-752, April.

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