Socio-Economic and Demographic Determinants of Under-Five Mortality in Ethiopia, 2011

Although the economic conditions in Ethiopian households have recently improved, under-five mortality has remained one of the major problems in the country. Identification of the risk factors for under-five mortality is an important problem that needs to be addressed. This study aimed to estimate the effect of socio-economic and demographic factors on under-five mortality in Ethiopia.

Data consisting of a nationally representative sample of 26370 children in the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey was analyzed. The survey logistic regression model was adopted for analysis. The outcome variable was the child’s survival status i.e. the child being either alive or dead. The explanatory variables were the socio-economic and demographic factors for mother and child, respectively.

The overall significance of all variables was investigated, and the following variables were found to have significant effect on the under-five mortality in Ethiopia: the sex of child, mother’s age at birth, the region, area of residence and educational of the mother.

This study suggests that improving the educational level of mothers and reducing the regional disparity can reduce child mortality in Ethiopia.