title: Contributing death factors in very low-birth-weight infants by path method analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neonatal deaths account for 40% of deaths under the age of 5 years worldwide. Therefore, efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal 4 of reducing childhood mortality by two-thirds by 2015 are focused on reducing neonatal deaths in high-mortality countries. The aim of present study was to determine death factors among very low-birth-weight infants by path method analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, medical records of 2,135 infants admitted between years 2008 and 2010 in neonatal intense care unit of Alzahra Educational-Medical centre (Tabriz, Iran) were analysed by path method using statistical software SPSS 18.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Variables such as duration of hospitalisation, birth weight, gestational age have negative effect on infant mortality, and gestational blood pressure has positive direct effect on infant mortality that at whole represented 66.5% of infant mortality variance (F = 1018, P < 0.001). Gestational age termination in the positive form through birth weight, and also gestational blood pressure in negative form through hospitalisation period had indirect effect on infant mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study indicated that the duration of low-birth-weight infant's hospitalisation is also associated with infant's mortality (coefficient -0.7; P < 0.001). This study revealed that among the maternal factors only gestational blood pressure was in relationship with infants' mortality.
authors.affiliation: Women's Reproductive Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghojazadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Atefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Velayati
authors.affiliation: Women's Reproductive Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mallah
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Service Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azami-Aghdash
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Keyvan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mirnia
authors.affiliation: Students' Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piri
authors.affiliation: Medical Philosophy and History Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naghavi-Behzad
keywords: Effective factors; infant mortality; path analysis; very low birth weight