Putting child mortality on a map: towards an understanding of inequity in health
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
OBJECTIVES: To map and analyse geographical (spatial) variations of child mortality trends in mainland Tanzania. METHODS: We used a geographic information system to integrate data on child mortality and associated risk factors. We then applied spatial statistics to quantify the spatial component of child mortality trends, and employed multivariate analysis to break mortality down into a spatial and a local component. RESULTS: The results support our hypothesis that child mortality trends have a spatial component that can be attributed to broad-scale environmental and social-economic factors. However, the multivariate analysis showed that the spatial component only explained one-third of the variation in child mortality trends. The results thus point towards the presence of local (non-spatial) causative factors, including variations in the access to and quality of child health care. CONCLUSIONS: The method we used is a cost-effective way to systematically assess geographical variations in health outcomes. It can thus provide researchers and practitioners with a good first-line tool in understanding local contributions to differences in mortality and other indicators, and give authorities at all levels a better foundation for addressing health inequities.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Tropical Medicine & International Health |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 653-62 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISSN | 1360-2276 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Keywords: Child Mortality; Child, Preschool; Developing Countries; Environment; Female; Geographic Information Systems; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Tanzania
ID: 20807448