TY  - JOUR
TI  - Factors Related to Infant Mortality Rate and Under-Five Mortality Rate in Turkey: An Ecological Study with Provincial Data
AB  - Objective: To determine the factors related to the infant mortality rate (IMR) and under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in Turkey. Material and Methods: An ecological study was conducted using the provincial data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) and the Ministry of Health. Results: IMR and U5MR (r values for these two parameters are respectively mentioned in parenthesis) had a statistically significant relationship with total fertility rate (TFR) (r=0.661 and 0.718), ratio of adolescent births to total births (r=0.542 and 0.587), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (r=−0.555 and −0.591), proportion of women aged ≥18 with high school or higher education (r=−0.434 and −0.470), number of physicians per 100,000 people (r=−0.352 and −0.398), number of hospital beds per 100,000 people (r=−0.244 and −0.286), and number of newborn intensive care beds per thousand births (r=−0.324 and −0.359). In bivariate models for IMR, the effect of all of the abovementioned parameters on the model was statistically significant, except for the number of hospital beds per 100,000 people. In bivariate models for U5MR, the effect of all the above-mentioned parameters on the model was statistically significant. TFR was the only variable with a statistically significant effect on the multivariate model for both IMR (standardized β=0.621, R2=0.385) and U5MR (standardized β=0.667, R2=0.445). Conclusion: The results showed the presence of a weak correlation for the variables related to the numbers of healthcare professionals and hospital beds, thereby indicating that the effect of healthcare service provision is rather indirect. Health promotion programs can be developed for infant and child mortality with the aim of changing high fertility preferences and preventing adolescent pregnancies. Economic policies that improve income distribution and initiatives to increase education levels of girls can be life-saving for infants and children.
AU  - Tuzun, Hakan
DO  - 10.26650/jchild.2021.993630
PY  - 2021
JO  - Çocuk Dergisi
VL  - 21
IS  - 3
SN  - 1302-9940
SP  - 221
EP  - 230
DB  - TRDizin
UR  - http://search/yayin/detay/1118871
ER  -