Effect of Seasonal Variations on Infant Mortality Rate of Some Selected Districts of Jammu Division

BACKGROUND: The infant and child mortality rates are considered as sensitive indicators of living and socioeconomic conditions of a country. The infant mortality rate is regarded as most of the revealing measures of how well a society is meeting the needs of its people. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of seasonal variations on the infant mortality in some selected districts of Jammu Division, J&K. METHODOLOGY: In the present study, infant mortality data were collected for the 6 consecutive years (2013–2018) from different health centers of four districts of Jammu Division and Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), J&K. The seasonal variations of overall infant deaths were analyzed using the monthly mortality data collected for the study period. Poisson regression model was employed to measure the seasonal effects on the overall infant deaths. Data analysis was done using software IBM SPSS 24.0. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 4443 infant deaths were recorded from selected districts of Jammu Division, J&K, from the year 2013–2018. The prevalence of infant deaths was extremely high in the month of January as compared to the reference month June. Furthermore, the parameter estimates for each of the months along with 95% Wald confidence interval were calculated. CONCLUSIONS: The present study concludes that seasonal variations significantly affect the infant mortality in Jammu Division, J&K, India. The policymakers must consider the effect of seasons on infant mortality as children in their 1(st) year of life are more susceptible toward environmental conditions.