Spatial multilevel analysis of age at death of under-5 children and associated determinants: EDHS 2000-2016

Objective This study examines trends, spatial distribution and determinants of age at death of under-5 children in Ethiopia. Design This study used secondary data from the 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys. A multilevel partial ordinal logistic regression model was used to assess the effects of variables on the age at death of children under 5 years. Setting Ethiopia. Participants The final analysis included a sample of 3997 deaths of newborns, infants and toddlers. Results A total of 1508, 1054, 830 and 605 deaths of under-5 children were recorded in the 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2016 survey years, respectively. The death of newborns, infants and toddlers showed a significant decrease from 2000 to 2016, with reductions of 33.3% to 17.4%, 42.4% to 12.6% and 45.2% to 11.6%, respectively. The analysis using Global Moran's Index revealed significant spatial autocorrelation in mortality for each survey year (p<0.05). The intraclass correlation of age at death of under-5 children within regions was substantial. Furthermore, the odds of newborn deaths among under-5 children (OR: 0.638, 95%CI: 0.535, 0.759) were lower for those delivered in health institutions compared with those delivered at home. Conclusions Throughout the survey years from 2000 to 2016, newborn children had higher mortality rates compared with infants and toddlers, and significant spatial variations were observed across different zones in Ethiopia. Factors such as child's sex, age of mother, religion, birth size, sex of household head, place of delivery, birth type, antenatal care, wealth index, spatial autocovariate, Demographic and Health Survey year, place of residence and region were found to be significant in influencing the death of under-5 children in Ethiopia. Overall, there has been a decreasing trend in the proportion of under-5 child mortality over the four survey years in Ethiopia.