The Determinants of Child Survival in South-west Nigeria

Introduction: Child survival is an essential component of public health concerned with reducing child morbidity and mortality. Despite the gains attained during the Millennium Development Goals era, globally 14,000 children less than five years of age still die daily. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the determinants of child survival in South-west Nigeria.

Methods: A A four-stage random sampling technique four-stage random sampling was used to sample 1308 mothers of under-five children in southwest Nigeria. Information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, child-related, maternal, paternal, and environmental factors were collected using a pre-tested, interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20, descriptive statistics, and logistic regression was performed at a 5% level of significance.

Results: Mean age of respondents was 30.7±6.1years. Factors that significantly (p<0.05) influenced the survival of the under-five children were; mothers' literacy level, residence, low parity, mothers’ educational qualification, type of flooring materials, and mothers' age at first birth. The odds of child survival is twice as higher in literate than non-literate mothers (OR:1.9; CI:1.2-2.8), urban than rural dwellers (OR:2.2; CI:1.1-4.8), mothers with at least a secondary education than uneducated (OR:2.1; CI:1.3-3.5), type of flooring materials (OR:4.3; CI:2.3-8.2) and respondents age at first birth (OR:1.1; CI:1.0-1.1). Also, women with low parity had less likelihood of under-five death than mothers with higher parity (OR:0.5; CI:0.3-0.9).

Conclusion: The study identified literacy level, residence, low parity, mothers’ educational qualification, and type of flooring materials as determinants of child survival in southwest Nigeria. Therefore, all stakeholders should develop a more effective response to these determinants to ensure sustainable, realistic, and practical measures that will increase the survival of under-five children in the area.