| dc.description.abstract | This study focused on the factors influencing infant mortality in Nyanza and Central Provinces of Kenya. The specific objectives were to establish the effects of socioeconomic, maternal and environmental factors on infant mortality in Central and Nyanza provinces of Kenya. The source of data for the study was the KDHS 2008/2009. The study sample consisted of 1109 infants from Nyanza province and 496 infants in Central province.
The study was conceptualized within the Mosley and Chen (1984) conceptual framework. The dependent variable for the study was age at death of an infant. The main study variables were: maternal education, place of residence; mothers work status, maternal age at first birth, birth order, preceding birth internal, source of drinking water and presence of toilet facility.
The bivariate results showed that maternal education, place of residence , preceding birth interval and source of drinking water were significantly associated with infant mortality in Central and Nyanza provinces when p-value was adjusted to 0.10 (10 percent). Birth order was significantly associated with infant mortality in Central province while the in Nyanza province, presence of a toilet facility was significantly associated with infant mortality.
The main findings from the multivariate results were that maternal education and mother's work status had significant relationship - with infant mortality in Nyanza province. Similarly, source of drinking water had a significant relationship with infant mortality in Central province. The main policy implications for the findings were that the girl child education in Kenya should be given prominence through girl child enrollment, retention and completion of their studies. | en_US |
