Geographical disparities of cause-specific under-five mortality rates from 2007 to 2010 in Rufiji District, Tanzania

It is well known that there are substantial area variations in child mortality rates in the coastal region of Tanzania. Area variations in mortality may be due to characteristics that relate to the area itself (contextual factors) or to characteristics of the individuals who live in these areas (sociodemographic factors). We extend this body of research by hypothesizing that even within rural areas, there exists spatial disparity in child mortality and that this disparity varies by cause of mortality. The objective of this study is to investigate the geographical disparities of cause-specific under-five mortality in Rufiji Health Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS).
We combined all deaths of children under five that occurred between 2007 and 2010 for each village within the Rufiji HDSS and multiple it by the proportion of deaths assigned to each cause to yield the cause-specific under-five mortality rate at the village level. We rank mortality rates and focus on the leading four causes and contributors to geographical disparity: malaria, pneumonia, birth asphyxia and prematurity/low birth weight.
A total 2801 under-five deaths were recorded. We observe geographical disparities of cause-specific under-five mortality in Rufiji HDSS. These disparities may be due to in socioeconomic differences and healthcare accessibility.