Trends and Sociodemographic Differentials of Stillbirth and Perinatal Mortality Rates in 78 Surveys in 14 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Application of Modified Gompertz-Makeham Model

Mohamed Ali, World Health Organization (WHO)
saverio bellizzi, university sassari
Omnia M ALI, University of Bristol

Still births and neonatal mortality continue to pose heavy burden in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries. However, their measurement is challenging because of potential misreporting. A recent assessment of stillbirth and neonatal mortality applied a flexible statistical model that adjusted for quality of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data in measuring stillbirth and early neonatal mortality (Ali et al, 2023). We utilize this new methodology to measure trends and differentials of stillbirth and perinatal mortality in countries with at least four DHS surveys. Data: The analysis is based on 78 DHS surveys in 14 LMICs. The total number of pregnancies extracted from the reproductive calendar is 785,695 contributed by 575,522 women. Findings: Declining trends of stillbirth and perinatal mortality over time were observed in 10 of the 14 countries. Pooled relative risks of stillbirth were significantly associated with lower risk among rich households compared to poor; and women with higher number of livebirths and higher risk among older women compared to younger and among. However, for perinatal mortality all covariates examined were significant. Conclusion: The innovative approach applied in this study could be of particular benefit to countries where registration systems are inadequate, and household surveys are the principal source of population data on stillbirth and neonatal mortality.

Keywords: Mortality and Longevity, Data and Methods, Linked data sets

See paper.