نابرابري اجتماعي - اقتصادي در مرگ ومير كودكان زير پنج سال ايران در سطح كشور و استاني در سالهاي 1364 تا 1378

The Evaluation of Socio-Economic Inequality in Under Five Child Mortality at Provincial and National levels in Iran (1985 - 2000)

Background: Regarding the global evidence indicative of higher child mortality among poorer socio-economic classes, this study was carried out with the aim of assessment of socio-economic inequality in under five child mortality rate in Iran. Materials and Methods: The data of the provincially respresentative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) which was carried out in Iran in 2000 were analyzed. To assess the inequality at national an provincial levels 47896 people (born in 1995-1995) and 187292 (born in 1985-1999) were studied. A Dichotomus Hierachial Ordered Probit (DIHOPIT) model was used to develop and indicator of socio-economic status of household. Inequality in under five child mortality was calculated using the odds ratio of under five child mortality between the lowest and the highest socio-economic quintiles at both the provincial and national levels. Results: There was a descending trend in under five child mortality rate according to socio-economic quintiles and the poorest to the richest odds ratio was 2.63 (95% CI= 1.83-3.05) in the country. Furthermore, the inequality of under five child mortality rate between the lowest and the highest quintiles was significant and favoured the well-off in all of the provinces. However, this inequality varied among the provinces. Conclusion: Socio-economic inequality in under five child mortality favours the well-off in the country as a whole and in all of its provinces, but this inequality varies among the provinces as well. Measuring average health by itself is not a sufficiently detailed way of describing population health. The distribution of health in the population is also a key concern that should be considered.