Under-five mortality among mothers employed in agriculture: findings from a nationally representative sample

Background. India accounts for 24% to all under-five mortality in the world. Residence in rural area, poverty and low levels of mother’s education are known confounders of under-five mortality. Since two-thirds of India’s population lives in rural areas, mothers employed in agriculture present a particularly vulnerable population in the Indian context and it is imperative that concerns of this sizeable population are addressed in order to achieve MDG4 targets of reducing U5MR to fewer than 41 per 1,000 by 2015. This study was conducted to examine factors associated with under-five mortality among mothers employed in agriculture. Methods. Data was retrieved from National Family Household Survey-3 in India (2008). The study population is comprised of a national representative sample of single children aged 0 to 59 months and born to mothers aged 15 to 49 years employed in agriculture from all 29 states of India. Univariate and Multivariate Cox PH regression analysis was used to analyse the Hazard Rates of mortality. The predictive power of child mortality among mothers employed in agriculture was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results. An increase in mothers’ ages corresponds with a decrease in child mortality. Breastfeeding reduces child mortality by 70% (HR 0.30, 0.25–0.35, p = 0.001). Standard of Living reduces child mortality by 32% with high standard of living (HR 0.68, 0.52–0.89, 0.001) in comparison to low standard of living. Prenatal care (HR 0.40, 0.34–0.48, p = 0.001) and breastfeeding health nutrition education (HR 0.45, 0.31–0.66, p = 0.001) are associated significant factors for child mortality. Birth Order five is a risk factor for mortality (HR 1.49, 1.05–2.10, p = 0.04) in comparison to Birth Order one among women engaged in agriculture while the household size (6–10 members and ≥ 11 members) is significant in reducing child mortality in comparison to ≤5 members in the house. Under-five mortality among mothers employed in agriculture in India discriminated well between death and survival (Area Under ROC was 0.75, 95% CI [0.73–0.77]) indicating that the model is good for appropriate prediction of child mortality. Conclusion. In a nationally representative sample of households in India, mother’s age, breastfeeding, standard of living, prenatal care and breastfeeding health nutrition education are associated with reduction in child mortality.