تاثير كيفيت و مراقبت هاي مادران و كودكان در مرگ كودكان زير يك سال شهرستان بجنورد

The influence of mother and child health care quality on the enfant mortality rate in Bojnourd, Iran

Objective(s): To study the impact mother and child care, quality delivered during pregnancy and infancy, on the infant mortality in Bojnourd City, (North East of Iran), and to suggest appropriate strategies for improving the quality of care in order to reduce infant mortality. Material & Methods: This was a case- control study. The study population were infants whose parents were resident of Bojnourd for at least three continuos years. The cases were 150 infants who had passed away during the year 2000 (From 21 March 2000 to 20 March 2001). Controls were 450 infants selected from the rest of the study population. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews with parents, extracted of medical records in health centers, birth and death certificates and delivery facilities. Results: The results of this study indicate that both quality characteristied and all of the service delivery measured were significantly associated with infant mortality (P=0.001). On the other hand, quality characteristied of services, both individually and collectively, were significantly associated with infant mortality (P=0.0001). Conclusion: The results of this study further emphasizes the existence of problems in the quality of maternal and child care and its effect on infant mortality. This indicates that there is need for continuos monitoring and evaluation of the system in the region.