Factors influencing the survival of under-five children among women visiting government health care facility in semi-urban communities in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Child survival is low in Nigeria and often related to the poor health practices of mothers and other exogenous factors. The various factors affecting survival chance of under five children have not fully been studied. So there is need to enhance child survival in order to achieve the SDG 3. Objective: The study seeks to examine factors that have promoted child survival among mothers using institutional health facilities in Ado-Odo/Ota, Ogun State Nigeria. Methods: Study was based on a 2017 cross-sectional survey on determinants of child morbidity and survival in Ogun State by Covenant University Public Health and Wellbeing Research Cluster. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were applied on 1350 respondents that constituted the sample size. All analysis was done on STATA Version 12. Results: Knowledge of child preventable diseases (X2 = 8.9978; P = 0.003); birth spacing (X2 = 31.7293; P = 0.000); duration of breast feeding (X2 = 14.3756; P = 0.002) and immunization status (X2 = 18.8541; P = 0.000) showed significant influence on child survival. Conclusion and Recommendation: Mothers’ knowledge of child preventable diseases and factors related to maternal child care practices were found to influence child survival. From the findings the study recommends women empowerment and health education for both mothers and their spouses.

Keywords

• child survival
• government healthcare facility
• under-five children
• nigeria
• sdgs