Analysis of Infant and Child Mortality Rates in Kaduna State- Nigeria

Infant and child mortality rate in Kaduna State is a major concern as the State recorded 88 deaths per 1,000 live births and 179 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010. The aimed of this study is to analyze infant and child mortality rates in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Data from the hospitals in three Local Government Areas purposively selected from 2005 to 2014 were analyzed to assess the rates of infant and child mortality. A total of four hundred (400) copies of semi structured questionnaire were administered using purposive sampling technique, of which 386 were found useful for analysis. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and regression analysis using SPSS 20.0 version. The descriptive statistics showed that 66.3% of the respondents are between the ages of 20 and 34 years, 36.8% are Hausa/Fulani. Malaria was discovered to be the major cause of under-five deaths with 30.1%. The level of under-five mortality in Kaduna State has remained high since the past 10 years with an estimated under-five mortality rate of 163/1,000 live births. Logistic regression revealed that distance from the health facility had the most significant correlation (0.379), followed by age at first marriage (0.138), age of mother (0.118), marital status (0.064), level of education (0.064) and length of breast feeding contribute (0.054). On the basis of the findings, the study recommends that programme interventions need to focus on mothers with low socioeconomic status.