Spatial Analysis of Child Mortality in Nigeria

Sulaiman Salau, University of the Witwatersrand
Jacky Galpin, University of the Witwatersrand
Clifford O. Odimegwu, University of the Witwatersrand

Child mortality levels in developing countries continue to be high and exhibit wide geographical disparities. Motivated by the need to lower the inequality in child survival, this paper presents a spatial analysis of child mortality in Nigeria, with emphasis on the effect of various community level variables. Using data from the 2003 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and other contextual sources, exploratory spatial analysis tools - Moran’s I and LISA statistics were employed to test for spatial autocorrelation in mortality rates. Geoadditive survival models were also fitted to establish the effect of various individual, household and community variables and to explain the extent of clustering of mortality risk at different levels. Policy and program implications emerging from our findings are also discussed.