[Population development in the Czech Republic in 1993]

The "Czech Republic's demographic development in 1993 was characterized particularly by conspicuous abatement of nuptiality, continuance of natality decline, marked reduction of induced abortions...,continued decrease of infant and neonatal mortality rates and by considerable shrinkage of population increase due to migration. [A] steep fall of nuptiality became the most pronounced feature of population development in 1993.... The number of children born in 1993 in the Czech Republic was the [lowest] since 1918 and the crude birth rate...was the lowest...since 1785.... Marked diminution of abortions signifies another outstanding phenomenon of population development in the Czech Republic. There has [been a]...decline of deaths, [a] decrease of crude death rate and [a] medium life span extension." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS)

Mother's health-seeking behaviour and childhood mortality in Pakistan

"The paper examines the mother's health-seeking behaviour and childhood mortality in Pakistan. This is based on the 1990-91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS).... It was found that neonatal, infant, and child mortality rate is the highest among children of mothers aged less than 20 years. Infant and child mortality rate is likewise higher among first and higher order births than among births of second or third order. It was further found that mortality declines as the length of the birth interval increases. The results reveal that the education of mother has significant effect on the neonatal, infant and child survival.... Health care factors such as antenatal care, place of delivery, assistance at delivery and immunisation also influenced neonatal, infant and child mortality."

[Infant mortality in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: risk areas and distance traveled by patients to get to health care facilities]

The infant mortality rate has been considered a summary of the quality of life and level of development of a given population. However, this indicator is very sensitive to such simple measures as oral rehydration therapy, vaccination, and continuation of breast-feeding. Given that such health activities have become more widespread, an infant mortality rate may no longer reflect a particular development model. With the aim of broadening the discussion regarding infant mortality, this study analyzed the 153 neighborhoods of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our objective was to identify areas with more risk, and the priority groups for interventions to decrease infant mortality. We analyzed neonatal and postneonatal mortality in each neighborhood. We also identified the children's home neighborhood and the location of their deaths and related these results to the socioeconomic classification of the corresponding neighborhoods. In relation to the average infant mortality rate for the city, we could not make statistically significant comparisons for some neighborhoods due to their small number of births. One-third of the infant deaths could have been prevented with early diagnosis and treatment. Only 15% of the deaths were considered unavoidable. Both neonatal mortality and postneonatal mortality were geographically dispersed, with no direct association with the socioeconomic profile of the neighborhoods. An analysis of the children's place of residence and the location of their deaths showed flows of patients from poor areas to more affluent city areas with better health services. This pattern highlights the effect of access to quality medical care on infant mortality.

Effect of home-based neonatal care and management of sepsis on neonatal mortality: field trial in rural India

BACKGROUND

Neonatal care is not available to most neonates in developing countries because hospitals are inaccessible and costly. We developed a package of home-based neonatal care, including management of sepsis (septicaemia, meningitis, pneumonia), and tested it in the field, with the hypothesis that it would reduce the neonatal mortality rate by at least 25% in 3 years.

METHODS

We chose 39 intervention and 47 control villages in the Gadchiroli district in India, collected baseline data for 2 years (1993-95), and then introduced neonatal care in the intervention villages (1995-98). Village health workers trained in neonatal care made home visits and managed birth asphyxia, premature birth or low birthweight, hypothermia, and breast-feeding problems. They diagnosed and treated neonatal sepsis. Assistance by trained traditional birth attendants, health education, and fortnightly supervisory visits were also provided. Other workers recorded all births and deaths in the intervention and the control area (1993-98) to estimate mortality rates.

FINDINGS

Population characteristics in the intervention and control areas, and the baseline mortality rates (1993-95) were similar. Baseline (1993-95) neonatal mortality rate in the intervention and the control areas was 62 and 58 per 1000 live births, respectively. In the third year of intervention 93% of neonates received home-based care. Neonatal, infant, and perinatal mortality rates in the intervention area (net percentage reduction) compared with the control area, were 25.5 (62.2%), 38.8 (45.7%), and 47.8 (71.0%), respectively (p<0.001). Case fatality in neonatal sepsis declined from 16.6% (163 cases) before treatment, to 2.8% (71 cases) after treatment by village health workers (p<0.01). Home-based neonatal care cost US$5.3 per neonate, and in 1997-98 such care averted one death (fetal or neonatal) per 18 neonates cared for.

INTERPRETATION

Home-based neonatal care, including management of sepsis, is acceptable, feasible, and reduced neonatal and infant mortality by nearly 50% among our malnourished, illiterate, rural study population. Our approach could reduce neonatal mortality substantially in developing countries.

Incarcerated and strangulated inguinal hernias in children in Zaria, Nigeria

OBJECTIVE

To reappraise the problem of incarcerated and strangulated inguinal hernias in children in Zaria, Nigeria.

DESIGN

A retrospective study.

SETTING

Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.

PATIENTS

Eighteen children aged below two years with incarcerated and strangulated inguinal hernias managed over a 10 year period.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Incarceration and strangulation rate, resection rate, testicular infarction, wound infection.

RESULTS

The overall incarceration and strangulation rate was 4.8%. The rate in neonates was 80%, 33% in those less than six months and 21% in those below one year. There was no incarceration or strangulations after two years of age. The intestinal resection rate for gangrene was 11% (two neonates) and ipsilateral orchidectomy was necessary for testicular infarction in two neonates (11%). Wound infection occurred in three patients (17%) and there were no deaths. Overall, there has been an improvement in the incarceration and strangulation rate, resection rate and wound infection rate over earlier years (5.7%, 28% and 50% respectively for earlier years) due largely to early presentation. Testicular infarction, however, remains a major risk particularly in neonates.

CONCLUSION

The policy of early repair of inguinal hernias in children especially below two years and particularly in neonates should be continuously emphasised to avoid morbidity.

Low-weight neonatal survival paradox in the Czech Republic

Analysis of vital statistics for the Czech Republic between 1986 and 1993, including 3,254 infant deaths from 350,978 first births to married and single women who conceived at ages 18-29 years, revealed a neonatal survival advantage for low-weight infants born to disadvantaged (single, less educated) women, particularly for deaths from congenital anomalies. This advantage largely disappeared after the neonatal period. The same patterns have been observed for low-weight infants born to black women in the United States. Since the Czech Republic had an ethnically homogenous population, virtually universal prenatal care, and uniform institutional conditions for delivery, Czech results must be attributed to social rather than to biologic or medical circumstances. This strengthens the contention that in the United States, the black neonatal survival paradox may be due as much to race-related social stigmatization and consequent disadvantage as to any hypothesized hereditary influences on birth-weight-specific survival.

Validation of caregiver interviews to diagnose common causes of severe neonatal illness

The objective of this study was to validate retrospective caregiver interviews for diagnosing major causes of severe neonatal illness and death. A convenience sample of 149 infants aged < 28 days with one or more suspected diagnoses of interest (low birthweight/severe malnutrition, preterm birth, birth asphyxia, birth trauma, neonatal tetanus, pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia, diarrhoea, congenital malformation or injury) was taken from patients admitted to two hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Study paediatricians performed a standardised history and physical examination and ordered laboratory and radiographic tests according to study criteria. With a median interval of 64.5 days after death or hospital discharge, caregivers of 118 (79%) infants were interviewed about their child's illness. Using reference diagnoses based on predefined clinical and laboratory criteria, the sensitivity and specificity of particular combinations of signs (algorithms) reported by the caregivers were ascertained. Sufficient numbers of children with five reference standard diagnoses were studied to validate caregiver reports. Algorithms with sensitivity and specificity > 80% were identified for neonatal tetanus, low birthweight/severe malnutrition and preterm delivery. Algorithms with specificities > 80% for birth asphyxia and pneumonia had sensitivities < 70%, or alternatively had high sensitivity with lower specificity. In settings with limited access to medical care, retrospective caregiver interviews provide a valid means of diagnosing several of the most common causes of severe neonatal illness and death.

Perinatal mortality in Taiwan

Information on perinatal deaths was obtained from 310 women by collecting detailed obstetric histories dating from marriage to the start of the survey. These histories were compared to those of 688 age matched controls. Potential risk factors, levels and time trends of perinatal mortality in Taiwan were examined and factors underlying stillbirths and early neonatal deaths were also compared using conditional logistic regression analyses. A nearly 56% decline of the perinatal mortality rate during the 35 y, approximately, prior to the survey was observed. Risk of stillbirths was increased among those who had abused illegal drugs during pregnancy, those who reported that the pregnancy was unwanted and those with Thalassemia trait. Body mass index was log-linearly related with stillbirths, with higher body mass associated with higher risk. For early neonatal deaths, those mothers aged 19 y or less, those giving birth to either their first children or to their fifth or later child, those who had their first prenatal care visit after the first three months of pregnancy were associated with increased risk in the logistic model. Those with a birth interval of less than two years and those with less education were associated with increased risk in both perinatal death groups. While some of these factors have already been associated with perinatal deaths, others have not; the new associations provide clues to mechanisms by which the risk of death increases before or after delivery.

Socioeconomic correlates of infant mortality in Hong Kong, 1979-93

Although Hong Kong's infant mortality is among the lowest in the world, there may still be subgroups in the population with unusually high and possibly avoidable mortality rates. We conducted an ecological study on the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and infant mortality in Hong Kong by using government data from three periods: 1979-83, 1984-88 and 1989-93. The study population comprised all infant births in 65 modified districts in Hong Kong in the period 1979-93. Infant, neonatal and post-neonatal mortality rates (IMRs, NMRs and PNMRs) were used as the health indicators. An F score was derived from highly correlated socioeconomic variables by factor analysis and used as a summary index of socioeconomic status. In 1979-83, socioeconomic deprivation was found to be significantly associated with high IMRs and high NMRs in both sexes, while in 1984-88 this association was observed only in baby girls. None of the observed associations were significant in 1989-93. Overall, the territory's infant mortality rates fell from 10.2 per thousand live births in 1979-83 to 5.6 per thousand live births in 1989-93. Individual-based studies are needed to ascertain whether this apparent disappearance of the socioeconomic relationship with infant and neonatal mortality is real.

The impact of consanguinity and inbreeding on perinatal mortality in Karachi, Pakistan

Close consanguineous unions continue to be extremely common in much of West Asia, including Pakistan. However, the impact of inbreeding on offspring mortality, particularly perinatal mortality, remains poorly documented. This paper attempts to measure the mortality risks associated with consanguinity and inbreeding while controlling for the effects of other potential confounders. The study sample comprises a multi-ethnic population residing in selected squatter settlements of Karachi. The adjusted odds ratio for perinatal mortality in the offspring of women married to their first cousins was 2.0 [95% CI 1.5, 2.6]. When parental inbreeding was also taken into account, the adjusted odds ratio for perinatal mortality increased further. Analysis of a subsample of data limited to pregnancies to women aged 35 years or above (at the time of the survey) showed that, despite adjustment for important biological and socio-demographic factors, both consanguinity and inbreeding remained important predictors of perinatal mortality in the offspring. Implications of the present study for further research are highlighted.

Neonatal mortality in the Czech Republic during the transition

"This paper examines how neonatal mortality has changed in the Czech Republic during the [1990s], examining trends in the distribution of birth weights and in birth weight specific neonatal mortality. It examines how these have varied in different parts of the country and, to ascertain the scope for further improvement, it compares them with corresponding values from Sweden, a country with one of the lowest neonatal mortality rates in Europe."

Early outcome of extremely low birth weight infants in Taiwan

We retrospectively evaluated the outcome and the risk factors for mortality among extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants born at National Taiwan University Hospital. The records of all live-born infants with body birth weight of less than 1,000 g from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 1996, were evaluated. Infants with major anomalies or whose parents refused resuscitation were excluded from the analysis. There were 81 ELBW infants (0.59%) among a total of 13,835 live births during the study period, and 73 cases were enrolled for study. The mean gestational age (GA) was 27.2 (range, 24-34) weeks. Sixty-six percent of the ELBW infants were born by cesarean delivery. Respiratory distress syndrome occurred in 64% of infants and exogenous surfactant therapy was given to 47%, while intermittent mandatory ventilation was given to 85%. Symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus occurred in 34% of infants, septicemia in 30%, chronic lung disease in 48%, grade III to IV intraventricular hemorrhage in 27%, stage III to V retinopathy of prematurity in 33%, and necrotizing enterocolitis in 8%. Neonatal survival was 74%, survival to discharge was 60%, and intact survival was 50%. The survival rate was 40% for infants with a birth body of weight less than or equal to 750 g, and 68% for those with a birth body weight of greater than 750 g. While survival was 27% for infants with a GA of less than 26 weeks, it was 75% for those with a GA of greater than or equal to 26 weeks. The survival rate improved year by year for those with a GA less than 28 weeks. Cox regression analysis of survival showed that Apgar score at 1 minute (p = 0.0063), pulmonary hypertension (p = 0.012), and severe intraventricular hemorrhage (p = 0.0031) were the most important factors associated with mortality. Though the outcome of ELBW infants in our institute seems poorer than in some more developed countries, it is improving. The prognosis for ELBW infants of 24 to 25 weeks' GA remains guarded under our present care.

Impact of maternal education and health services on child mortality in Uttar Pradesh, India

"This article, which examines the effect of maternal education on child mortality [in India], shows that education has direct as well as indirect effects through antenatal care and family formation patterns on neonatal mortality. Maternal education also has a substantial effect on later childhood mortality. While improving maternal education is a means of reducing childhood mortality, an immediate reduction in childhood mortality is feasible even under existing social conditions by enhancing accessibility to maternal and child health services and safe drinking water."

Decrease in infant mortality in New York City after 1989

OBJECTIVES

This study identified factors contributing to the rapid decline in infant mortality in New York City from 1989 to 1992.

METHODS

Changes in birthweight distributions and in birthweight/age-, cause-, and birthweight/age/cause-specific mortality rates from 1988/89 (before the mortality reduction) to 1990/91 were identified from New York City vital statistics data.

RESULTS

Infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality of very-low-birthweight (< 1500 g) and normal-birthweight infants decreased significantly. The declines were almost entirely due to decreases in birthweight-specific mortality rates, rather than increased birthweights. All races experienced most of these reductions. Mortality decreased significantly for 6 causes of death. These decreases were consistent with the birthweight/age groups experiencing mortality declines.

CONCLUSIONS

Widespread, multiple perinatal and postnatal factors contributed to the decline in infant mortality.

Rates of perinatal mortality and low birth weight among 3367 consecutive births in south of Beirut

3367 consecutive births were reviewed prospectively. Population belongs mainly to a community with relatively underprivileged living conditions. Perinatal mortality was found at a rate of 22.4/1000 B. Early neonatal mortality formed 6.66/1000 B and stillbirth formed 15.83/1000 B. Low birth weight rate was 5.43% of live birth. Analysis of our findings suggests the need to improve follow-up during gestation to avoid complications resulting in macerated stillbirths, and to review the routine of follow-up and care in the immediate period before delivery, during delivery, in the immediate post partum period including resuscitation procedures, and care in the ICN. The aim is to prevent and appropriately treat intrauterine asphyxia, fetal distress, obstetric complications, and in the post partum period to appropriately resuscitate the newborn and improve ICN procedures. These measures are expected to reduce fresh stillbirth and early neonatal mortality and consequently infant mortality. Lowering rate of low birth weight is of less urgent nature in this population as it is relatively not high, but because a larger portion of early neonatal mortality is among low birth weight infants, with weights below 2000 gms, improving ICN care provided to these neonates is expected to sharply reduce neonatal mortality. In Lebanon we have a growing number of ICN units with wide variability of the quality of medical supervision and facilities. Insufficient number of neonatologists and nurses who are specialized in neonatal intensive care is leaving the chance for sick neonates to be attended by general pediatricians and insufficiently trained nurses. Our medical schools are called to encourage pediatricians to specialize in neonatal intensive care and to create more opportunities for this specialty to meet the national requirement. It is suggested, too, to subject ICN units in Lebanon to standardized requirements concerning attendance and facilities before obtaining official recognition. Centralization of care given to severely sick neonates and to women with high risk pregnancy in optimal conditions is most needed.

Saving more neonates in hospital: an intervention towards a sustainable reduction in neonatal mortality in a Nicaraguan hospital

A process of change was initiated in a Nicaraguan regional hospital in order to achieve a sustainable reduction of early neonatal mortality. A series of organizational, educational and hygienic measures was introduced, involving all staff in antenatal care, delivery care and neonatal care. Neonatal mortality decreased from 56/1000 live births in 1985 to 11/1000 in 1993. A commission of maternal and child health, a weekly perinatal audit, the active involvement of all staff and dedicated work of key individuals, as well as national policy decisions, are considered important determinants of the process. Keeping neonatal mortality in focus through continuous analysis of care routines, and through external exchange of ideas is important in order to sustain improvements and to decrease further the mortality.

State-level infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality: the contribution of selected structural socioeconomic variables

Reducing infant mortality in the United States is a national priority. States' infant mortality rates vary substantially. Public health researchers, practitioners, and leaders have long argued that social and other structural factors must be addressed if health outcomes are to be improved. A knowledge of which structural variables are most strongly related to state-level infant mortality is needed to guide the development of policies and programs to reduce this mortality. The authors examine the importance of several structural (social, economic, and political) variables for state-level infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality. With the state as the unit of analysis, data for all 50 states were analyzed using multiple regression. Together, the structural variables accounted for two-thirds of the variance in infant and neonatal mortality rates and over half of the variance in postneonatal mortality rates. States with proportionately larger black populations had higher infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality rates. States with greater percentages of high school graduates had lower neonatal mortality rates but higher postneonatal mortality rates. The findings suggest that a better understanding of the relationship between states' social structure and infant health outcomes is needed if state-level infant mortality is to be reduced.