PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)
Determinants of performance of health systems concerning maternal and child health: a global approach.
Abstract
AimsTo assess the association of social determinants on the performance of health systems around the world.MethodsA transnational ecological study was conducted with an observation level focused on the country. In order to research on the strength of the association between the annual maternal and child mortality in 154 countries and social determinants: corruption, democratization, income inequality and cultural fragmentation, we used a mixed linear regression model for repeated measures with random intercepts and a conglomerate-based geographical analysis, between 2000 and 2010.ResultsHealth determinants with a significant association on child mortality(ConclusionsImproving access to water and sanitation systems, decreasing corruption in the health sector must become priorities in health systems. The ethno-linguistic cultural fragmentation and the detriment of democracy turn out to be two factors related to health results.