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J K van Ginneken

Publications and source records attributed to J K van Ginneken.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The effect of divorce on infant mortality in a remote area of Bangladesh.

The process of divorce is usually lengthy and hazardous, and can start quarrels that can lead to the abuse of women and their children. This study examines the effects of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality of babies born before and after divorce in Teknaf, a remote area of Bangladesh. The longitudinal demographic surveillance system (DSS) followed 1,762 Muslim marriages in 1982-83 for 5 years to record divorce, deaths of spouse, emigration and births. It recorded 2,696 live births during the follow-up period, and their survival status during infancy. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality, controlling for maternal age at birth, parity, sex of the child and household economic status. The odds of neonatal and postneonatal deaths among babies born after divorce or less than 12 months before mothers were divorced were more than double the odds of those born to mothers of intact marriages. The odds of postneonatal deaths were two times higher among babies born more than 12 months before divorce happens than their peers. The high mortality of infants born before and after mothers were divorced may reflect how abusive marriage and divorce increase the vulnerability of women and children in rural Bangladesh. Divorce and abuse of women are difficult and intractable social and health problems that must be addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Trends in and determinants of mortality in the elderly population of Matlab, Bangladesh.

Longitudinal data collected from the Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh, are used for determining trends in and determinants of mortality of the elderly population (60 yr and over) in 1974-1996. The old-age mortality rate is high in Matlab, 1.2 times that of Sri Lankan and 1.5 times that of the Swedish elderly population in a comparable period. Mortality among the elderly population declined in 1974 1982, but much less so in 1982-1996. Proportional hazards models were used for examining determinants of mortality in a sample of about 10,000 elderly persons. This multivariate analysis used information on several social and economic variables derived from the 1982 census and mortality data of this population which was followed prospectively in 1982-1992. Marital status was the single most important determinant: widows and widowers had 1.5 to 2 times higher risk of death compared to couples where both husbands and wives were alive. Social support in old age by children also plays a role, especially for women: women living with at least one son or daughter had 18% lower mortality than women living in a household without sons or daughters. Socioeconomic factors are also important. Those who had at least some education or were relatively affluent had lower mortality than those with no education or who were less affluent.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Repeated neonatal deaths in families with special reference to causes of death.

It is recognized that one infant death in a family indicates an increased risk of death of a subsequent sibling. This study examines which cause of death of a sibling is related to the mortality of the younger sibling and when. Longitudinal vital events data from the maternal and child health and family planning (MCH-FP) project and the comparison areas in Matlab, Bangladesh, were used. Primary causes of 868 neonatal deaths and 624 post-neonatal deaths resulting from 18,865 singleton live births in 1989-92 and those (967 as neonates and 708 as post-neonates) of their immediate elder siblings were categorised into infectious and non-infectious diseases. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the risk of younger siblings dying in each age period from infectious and non-infectious diseases given the age and cause of deaths of older siblings and controlling for other biosocial correlates of infant mortality. A neonatal death of non-infectious causes in a family was twice as likely to be followed by another one occurring at the same age from similar causes compared with a surviving infant followed by a neonatal death from non-infectious causes. The MCH-FP project, though successful in reducing the risk of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality from infectious diseases, did not reduce the risk of dying from non-infectious diseases.

Bangladesh↗
PubMed1996

Potential interventions for preventing pneumonia among young children in developing countries: promoting maternal education.

The views of various disciplines on the role of education in improving the health and survival of young children in developing countries are discussed, as well as the factors and processes explaining this impact of education and the influence which education could have on risk factors especially relevant to acute respiratory infections (ARI) and pneumonia. This is by reviews of the available evidence on the impact of maternal education on mortality and morbidity. Since there are hardly any data dealing with the impact of education on pneumonia mortality, we focus on post-neonatal mortality, assuming that it is a suitable proxy for pneumonia mortality. Evidence is summarized on several processes or mechanisms which could explain why there is such an impact of education on ARI mortality (and morbidity) in children below 5. An attempt is made to quantify the reduction in pneumonia mortality which has occurred during the past 10-15 years as a result of improvement in women's education. This will also give an indication of the magnitude of the potential benefits of education for health and survival in the years ahead. Throughout this report we define maternal education as the regular schooling received by women during their youth. Some may have followed additional adult education classes before they became mothers.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

Analysis of hospital records in four African countries, 1975-1990, with emphasis on infectious diseases.

Detailed standardized annual reports are analysed for 17 rural hospitals in four African countries, with admission figures of 1.2 million patients (excluding deliveries) and more than 67,000 deaths over a period of 16 years. The countries involved are Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana. Figures on admission, causes of death and clinical case fatality rates are presented per country and per 4-year calendar period for the most important infectious diseases. The number of admissions increased substantially in 3 of the 4 countries (50-77%) between 1976 and 1990, but admission rates (per 1,000 population per year) by much less (6-25%), indicating that a large part of the increase in the volume of services was due to population growth. The number of infectious disease admissions in Ghana, however, decreased by 12% and even more in terms of admission rates (by 42%). About 75% of all admissions in children below 15 years of age were due to infections and infection related diseases; for adults this figure was 31%. Malaria is the single most important infectious disease both in terms of admissions and as a cause of death; it has increased substantially in three of the four countries. Bacterial infections, in particular pneumonia, gastroenteritis, meningitis and tuberculosis, are also important diseases in terms of admissions and deaths. On the whole they have remained at more or less the same level in 1975-1990 in terms of both admissions and deaths. Immunizable diseases and measles, once important as causes of admissions and deaths, have declined in all countries. Case fatality rates vary substantially by type of disease. They are very high for tetanus (36.7-68.8%) and meningitis (14.7-43%), and low for malaria (0.6-4.6%). However, they vary considerably in the four countries included in the study and are usually lower in children than in adults. A need for detailed studies with good "standardized" hospital records is emphasized. Representative data are needed from all hospitals in a given catchment area, with defined diagnoses for diseases and details regarding age and sex. This kind of information is highly desirable for planning and operation of curative and preventive medical care in developing countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Cross-sectional household surveys of diarrhoeal diseases--a comparison of data from the Control of Diarrhoeal Diseases and Demographic and Health Surveys programmes.

Cross-sectional household surveys are extensively used for data collection, priority setting and programme evaluation in developing countries. They are now being promoted to assess a number of health care interventions such as Control of Diarrhoeal Diseases (CDD), Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), AIDS control and child survival programmes. Few field studies of the validity and precision of data generated from these surveys have been carried out, in part because such work is rather demanding of resources. The purpose of this study was to draw conclusions on validity and reliability of data from household surveys through a comparison of results from large-scale surveys on diarrhoea conducted by CDD and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) programmes in developing countries. Diarrhoea prevalence and treatment were compared for nine surveys for which little time had passed in between the CDD and DHS survey. The variation in results between the surveys was in many instances too large to be explained only by a true variation in the variable studied. A literature review suggested that validity problems could be due to response and recall errors. The authors caution the use of frequent household surveys for programme impact evaluation. Their cost-effectiveness should be carefully assessed, especially when services' evaluations already have provided evidence that a programme has had a positive effect on the behaviour of health workers and target groups in the community. It is recommended that more research be carried out on how selection and training of surveyors can be improved to make the quality of household surveys in developing countries better.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Results of two methods to determine health expectancy in The Netherlands in 1981-1985.

Health expectancy is a measure providing summarizing information on mortality on one hand and morbidity and/or disability on the other hand. In this article health expectancy is determined with two approaches: method 1 leads to life expectancy free of disability at birth and at other ages; method 2 leads to life expectancy in good health. Results of the various calculations show that according to method 1 life expectancy free of disability at birth for men in the Netherlands was 58.8 years and for women 57.3 years (based on data from the period 1981-1985). Results of method 2 are different from method 1; life expectancy in good health for men was 58.9 years and for women 60.7 years. Results of both methods are compared with studies which have been carried out in other countries. The comparison shows that method 1 leads to results which deviate from the other studies while results of method 2 are to a large extent similar to the other studies. Reasons are given which explain why the results of method 1 deviate from the other studies. In spite of the fact that the two methods lead to different outcomes, the conclusion is drawn that the difference in health expectancy between men and women is much smaller than the difference in total life expectancy between men and women. The difference in total life expectancy by sex in the period 1981-1985 was 6.7 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Mortality by cause of death in a rural area of Machakos District, Kenya in 1975-78.

This paper examines mortality by cause of death in a rural area of Machakos district in Kenya. The cause-of-death data collected between 1975 and 1978 were likely to be of fairly good quality. The number of deaths was higher among infants and children. Infectious diseases and diseases of the respiratory system were the leading causes of death among children below 5 years of age. Next in prominence were the causes ascribed to congenital anomalies and perinatal conditions. Among adolescents and young adults, injury and poisoning, together with tuberculosis and other infectious and parasitic diseases, were the leading causes of death. Degenerative diseases, especially diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms and respiratory illness, were responsible for the majority of deaths among the older population.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed1982

Machakos project studies. Agents affecting health of mother and child in a rural area of Kenya. XXI. Antenatal and delivery care.

Traditional and modern antenatal and delivery care is described for women who delivered during 1975 and 1976 and who belonged to the study population of the Machakos project studies. During their pregnancy 84% of the women had visited at least once an antenatal clinic. When asked during pregnancy 56% of the women stated that they intended to deliver in hospital but only 26% ultimately did so. Hospital delivery seemed to depend mostly on opportunity and habit. Of the special risk factors for complications of pregnancy and delivery only previous caesarean section and low height, and to a lesser degree primiparity, operated in favour of hospitalisation. Abdominal massage, given by traditional midwives, was the main form of traditional antenatal care; it was used mainly for abdominal pain. There was little interference during labour of deliveries attended by traditional midwives and few harmful practices were discovered. Their factual knowledge and understanding of anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and delivery was limited. Suggestions are given on how to promote hospital delivery among those women who require this for medical reasons.

Adult↗