Causes of early childhood deaths in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Data on causes of early childhood death from low-income urban areas are limited. The nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007 estimates 65 children died per 1,000 live births. We investigated rates and causes of under-five deaths in an urban community near two large pediatric hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh and evaluated the impact of different recall periods. We conducted a survey in 2006 for 6971 households and a follow up survey in 2007 among eligible remaining households or replacement households. The initial survey collected information for all children under five years old who died in the previous year; the follow up survey on child deaths in the preceding five years. We compared mortality rates based on 1-year recall to the 4 years preceding the most recent 1 year. The initial survey identified 58 deaths among children <5 years in the preceding year. The follow up survey identified a mean 53 deaths per year in the preceding five years (SD+/-7.3). Under-five mortality rate was 34 and neonatal mortality was 15 per thousand live births during 2006-2007. The leading cause of under-five death was respiratory infections (22%). The mortality rates among children under 4 years old for the two time periods (most recent 1-year recall and the 4 years preceding the most recent 1 year) were similar (36 versus 32). The child mortality in urban Dhaka was substantially lower than the national rate. Mortality rates were not affected by recall periods between 1 and 5 years.
Halder
Amal K
AK
Program on Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Science, International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. amalk@icddrb.org
Gurley
Emily S
ES
Naheed
Aliya
A
Saha
Samir K
SK
Brooks
W Abdullah
WA
El Arifeen
Shams
S
Sazzad
Hossain M S
HM
Kenah
Eben
E
Luby
Stephen P
SP
D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D002423:Cause of Death; D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*