Individual and Community-Level Effects on Child Mortality: An Analysis of 27 Demographic and Health Surveys In Sub-Saharan Africa

Adébiyi Germain Boco, Université de Montréal

While researchers have devoted considerable attention to the impact of individual-level factors on child mortality, less is known about how community characteristics and institutions affect health outcomes for children, even though they have a prominent role in theoretical models. Yet to fully understand the factors that affect child mortality is key to further reduce their levels, which is one of the objectives stated by the Millennium Development Goals 2015. Using data from the latest round of Demographic Health Surveys for all countries in sub-Saharan Africa, this study used multivariate and multilevel discrete-time event history analysis to systematically examine the impact of contextual factors on the risk of dying before age 5, and their relative importance in relation to individual factors. Findings suggest that the introduction of community-level factors indeed significantly reduces the impact of individual-level factors on infant and child mortality.