PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Child Mortality--changes”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Expanded programme on immunization (EPI). Safety of high titre measles vaccines.

Unexpected results suggesting decreased survival when compared with standard titre vaccine administered at 9 months of age have been found in some field studies evaluating the performance of high titre measles vaccine. Analytical difficulties have arisen because the studies were not specifically designed to measure survival. Nonetheless, careful analysis of the results from all of the high titre vaccine trials showed decreased survival of high titre vaccine recipients, in areas with high background mortality rates, compared with recipients of standard measles vaccines at 9 months. No systematic biases could be found in the studies to explain these differences. Statistical analysis of these data suggested that the findings were unlikely to be attributable to chance alone. The panel recommended that high titre measles vaccine derived from the original Edmonston measles vaccine isolate should no longer be recommended for use in immunization programmes. Further post-licensure field studies of new measles vaccines should take into account the results of these studies. Additional detailed epidemiological studies in populations that have received high titre vaccines and their controls were encouraged.

Child, Preschool↗

A study of 8 year neonatal deaths (1982-1989) of Toa Payoh Hospital.

A study of 233 neonatal deaths out of 30910 livebirths over an 8 year period in the Toa Payoh Hospital is done. The Hospital has since ceased providing obstetric and neonatal intensive services from April 1990 due to restructuring of hospital care. The Neonatal Mortality Rates (NNMR) from 1982-1989 ranged from 6.52 to 9.55 and there was no significant fall in trend (p = 0.13). One hundred and thirteen (48.5%) neonates who died were below 1500gm (VLBW). Various causes of neonatal deaths were examined and there was a decline in respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) death rates (p less than 0.0002). Deaths due to asphyxia (p greater than 0.05) and infections (p greater than 0.05) have not declined significantly over the same period. It is also observed that less VLBW babies died over this 8 year period and the VLBW mortality rates (p less than 0.02) have declined. However, the congenital malformation mortality has also not declined significantly (p = 0.92) though early study (1972-1981) showed an increasing trend of malformation deaths among total neonatal deaths (p less than 0.02). Improvement in VLBW and RDS management has not contributed to a significant decline in NNMR. It is observed that more VLBW babies were born during this 8 year period (p = 0.01) especially so in the less than 1000 gm group (p = 0.0005) and the survival of VLBW babies has improved (45.5% to 75.8% alive) as a result of advances in neonatal intensive care. The reasons for increase in incidence of VLBW births in the past few years are not known.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cause of Death↗

[Fertility and health in Mexico].

Fertility, health, and family planning are not independent factors, but rather involve a series of biological and social mechanisms in close interaction with one another. The impact that a high fertility rate has on health is reflected mainly in a rise in the rates of maternal and child mortality. Similarly, fertility has a greater negative effect upon the health of groups characterized by high reproductive risk, high parity, short intergenesic intervals, and unwanted pregnancies. On the other hand, family planning -and specifically the use of contraceptive methods-helps to achieve a lowering of the fertility rate and also has a positive effect on maternal-child health. This situation can be observed in the case of Mexico, where fertility rates and tendencies, as well as maternal and child mortality, have been reduced during the past decade.

Family Planning Services↗

An analysis of mortality trends among refugee populations in Somalia, Sudan, and Thailand.

A review of mortality data from refugee camps in Thailand (1979-80), Somalia (1980-85), and Sudan (1984-85) indicates that crude mortality rates (CMRs) were up to 40 times higher than those for the non-refugee populations in the host countries. In eastern Sudan, approximately 5% of the population of eight camps died in the first 3 months of the emergency and daily CMRs as high as 14 per 10 000 were reported. These rates dropped to values comparable with those of the host country within 6 weeks in the Thai camps; however, in Somalia and Sudan this process took 12 months. Mortality rates among under-5-year olds in the early phases, which were as high as 32.6 per 10 000 per day, are six times greater than those in the world's least developed countries during non-emergency times. Among severely undernourished children in one camp in Sudan, the death rate reached 114 per 10 000 per day. Acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, measles, and undernutrition were the causes of most reported deaths, the majority of which could have been prevented by adequate food rations, clean water, measles immunization, and an oral rehydration programme.

Adolescent↗

Community-based health reporting.

A development monitoring service at the local level was established in 1978/79 in several communities in Kerala State (India) to collect socioeconomic and health-related data. These were collected from key community members and by household surveys using paid local staff as interviewers. Selected results for five years from three geographically distinct areas are presented, for three categories of data: health service infrastructure, infant mortality and overall morbidity, and weight and height of children under 10 years old. The three areas were a fishing village (A), a relatively remote highland community (B) and an agricultural area close to the state capital (C). During the five-year period there were rather modest improvements in the delivery of health and other services. Infant mortality rates fluctuated between 14 and 91 per 1,000 live births, reflecting the fact that the sample size (10,000 to around 25,000 for each area) was inadequate for calculating that rate. Morbidity rates also fluctuated markedly, without showing any definite trend. However, morbidity was defined as illness resulting in the inability to carry out normal activities, thus excluding cases of worm infestation and much diarrhoea, for example. A detailed analysis of reported symptoms for one year showed that respiratory tract diseases accounted for about half the cases of illness reported. The percentage of children with abnormally low weight- or height-for-age fell markedly in one area over three successive years (height-for-age from 41.6% to 33.2%, weight-for-age from 58.5% to 44.7%), but were significantly greater in another area with a higher average income, indicating that economic factors alone were not responsible for the improvement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

On the decomposition of changes in expectation of life and differentials in life expectancy.

The projection of mortality rates requires inter alia close examination of the mortality experience of a population over a long period of time and will usually also involve the analysis of mortality trends by cause of death. In two of the more important recent contributions, techniques were devised for explaining change in life expectancy in terms of mortality changes in particular age groups and by different causes of death. The approaches adopted by the authors differ, and the purpose of this article is to reconcile the two and tie the results in with those obtained by earlier writers. A new method for explaining the change in a life expectancy differential in terms of the observed changes in the mortality differentials and the observed change in overall mortality level is also described.

Adolescent↗

Reducing infant mortality in rural America: evaluation of the Rural Infant Care Program.

The Rural Infant Care Program (RICP), initiated in 1979, was developed to improve perinatal health care in ten rural sites with histories of high infant mortality rates. Time-series regression models indicate that neonatal mortality rates were reduced, following program initiation, by 2.6 per 1,000 live births (p = .0002); black neonatal mortality rates were reduced by an estimated 4.5 per 1,000 (p = .0004). Three sets of comparison areas exhibited no significant changes in rates. Postneonatal mortality rates did not increase in the target areas following initiation of RICP, indicating that deaths were not merely being postponed. Nine of ten individual sites showed reductions in infant mortality following program initiation. Birthweight-specific mortality data indicated that the decline was due mainly to reductions in neonatal mortality among low-birthweight infants. No reductions in the incidence of low birthweight were observed in the target areas. Substantial gaps in the delivery of prenatal care remained due to the continuing poverty of the population and the resultant lack of financial coverage for health services. We conclude that improved perinatal medical care can reduce infant mortality in poor rural areas to average levels experienced in the United States, and that the high rates still observed in some rural counties are unnecessary.

Black or African American↗

Two determinants of fertility decline: a test of competing models.

This paper compares alternative models for the process by which education and infant mortality changes may combine to reduce fertility. A linear, interactive model appears most suitable. Substantively, it indicates that those countries with a combination of low infant mortality rates and high educational enrollments experience synergistically large declines in fertility. Patterns of contraceptive use are also consistent with this model.

Adolescent↗