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Infant mortality among twins and triplets in rural Bangladesh in 1975–2002
Author(s) -
Alam Nurul,
Van Ginneken Jeroen K.,
Bosch Alinda M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2007.01959.x
Subject(s) - infant mortality , demography , medicine , population , child mortality , logistic regression , incidence (geometry) , live birth , pediatrics , pregnancy , environmental health , biology , physics , sociology , optics , genetics
Summary To examine trends in incidence of multiple births (MB) and their survival in infancy, we used population‐based, longitudinal data derived from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Matlab, Bangladesh, from 1975 to 2002. Logistic regression was applied to determine the impact of a number of variables on mortality among MB in the first year of life. MB averaged 2% of all live births, but contributed 10% to all infant deaths. Infant mortality among MB was more than five times higher than among singletons. Mortality among MB declined by 27% in 1975–2002, considerably less than the 51% mortality decline among singletons in the same period. Infant mortality among twins and triplets was particularly high among children who were born to young mothers (<20 years), who were the first live birth, who were born after a short birth interval (<24 months) and whose mothers were unschooled. Mortality of MB was lower in the area with easy access to high‐quality maternal and child‐care services. Thus, good maternity and newborn care will improve the survival of MB.