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Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon

Received: 6 July 2023    Accepted: 20 July 2023    Published: 27 July 2023
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Abstract

Infant mortality remains a major international public health problem. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly worrying, as children are at high risk of dying before their fifth birthday. This study analyses the economic and social determinants of infant mortality in Cameroon using a cross-sectional study design. A nationwide stratified, two-stage sampling was used to sample 9,733 children and their respective mothers. A logistic regression model was used for both bivariate and multivariate analysis with a statistically significant level of p<0.05. The children were predominantly male, with a sex ratio of 1.03. Infant mortality was associated with a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in economic and social characteristics of the child and its mother, such as: age of the child between 25 and 60 months, second or higher birth order, average birth weight of the child, number of 2 to 3 children in the household, age of the mother, domestic violence against the mother, non-use of contraception by the mother, mothers of children residing in the North, Far-North, East and North West regions of the country. On the other hand, infant mortality was associated with a statistically non-significant difference (p>0.05) in economic and social characteristics, namely: child sex, age between 13 and 24 months, low and high child weights at birth, mother's level of education, marital status, mother's employment, religion, level of economic well-being, access to media, use of modern contraception, prenatal consultations in a health center, residence in an urban area, mothers resident in other regions of the country. The elimination of preventable deaths among children under 5 five years old by 2030 will depend on the extent to which economic and social determinants are taken into account in the public policies of resource-limited countries like Cameroon.

Published in Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12
Page(s) 102-112
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Economic, Social, Determinants, Mortality, Children Under Five, Cameroon

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    Zakariaou Njoumemi, Altiné Fadimatou, Samuel Honore Ntavoua, Iliassou Nkariepoun Njoya, Ousseni Mongbet, et al. (2023). Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon. Central African Journal of Public Health, 9(4), 102-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12

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    ACS Style

    Zakariaou Njoumemi; Altiné Fadimatou; Samuel Honore Ntavoua; Iliassou Nkariepoun Njoya; Ousseni Mongbet, et al. Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2023, 9(4), 102-112. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12

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    AMA Style

    Zakariaou Njoumemi, Altiné Fadimatou, Samuel Honore Ntavoua, Iliassou Nkariepoun Njoya, Ousseni Mongbet, et al. Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2023;9(4):102-112. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12,
      author = {Zakariaou Njoumemi and Altiné Fadimatou and Samuel Honore Ntavoua and Iliassou Nkariepoun Njoya and Ousseni Mongbet and Rahimatou Manouore},
      title = {Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon},
      journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {102-112},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20230904.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20230904.12},
      abstract = {Infant mortality remains a major international public health problem. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly worrying, as children are at high risk of dying before their fifth birthday. This study analyses the economic and social determinants of infant mortality in Cameroon using a cross-sectional study design. A nationwide stratified, two-stage sampling was used to sample 9,733 children and their respective mothers. A logistic regression model was used for both bivariate and multivariate analysis with a statistically significant level of p0.05) in economic and social characteristics, namely: child sex, age between 13 and 24 months, low and high child weights at birth, mother's level of education, marital status, mother's employment, religion, level of economic well-being, access to media, use of modern contraception, prenatal consultations in a health center, residence in an urban area, mothers resident in other regions of the country. The elimination of preventable deaths among children under 5 five years old by 2030 will depend on the extent to which economic and social determinants are taken into account in the public policies of resource-limited countries like Cameroon.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Economic and Social Determinants of Infant Under-Five Years’ Mortality in Cameroon
    AU  - Zakariaou Njoumemi
    AU  - Altiné Fadimatou
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5781
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    AB  - Infant mortality remains a major international public health problem. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly worrying, as children are at high risk of dying before their fifth birthday. This study analyses the economic and social determinants of infant mortality in Cameroon using a cross-sectional study design. A nationwide stratified, two-stage sampling was used to sample 9,733 children and their respective mothers. A logistic regression model was used for both bivariate and multivariate analysis with a statistically significant level of p0.05) in economic and social characteristics, namely: child sex, age between 13 and 24 months, low and high child weights at birth, mother's level of education, marital status, mother's employment, religion, level of economic well-being, access to media, use of modern contraception, prenatal consultations in a health center, residence in an urban area, mothers resident in other regions of the country. The elimination of preventable deaths among children under 5 five years old by 2030 will depend on the extent to which economic and social determinants are taken into account in the public policies of resource-limited countries like Cameroon.
    VL  - 9
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Garoua, Garoua, Cameron

  • Policy and Programme Analysis Division, Health Economics and Policy Research and Evaluation for Development Results Group (HEREG), Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Economic and Social Division, Strategic Purchasing for System Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation Consulting Group, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Policy and Programme Analysis Division, Health Economics and Policy Research and Evaluation for Development Results Group (HEREG), Yaounde, Cameroon

  • Policy and Programme Analysis Division, Health Economics and Policy Research and Evaluation for Development Results Group (HEREG), Yaounde, Cameroon

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