Back to browse results
Assessing sex differentials in under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-national comparative analysis
Authors: Adebiyi Germain Boco
Source: Canadian Studies in Population, Volume 41, issue 3-4; DOI: https://doi.org/10.25336/P67P5Z
Topic(s): Childhood mortality
Children under five
Gender
Country: Africa
  Multiple African Countries
Published: APR 2015
Abstract: This paper investigates and compares country-specific sex differentials in childhood mortality in thirty sub-Saharan African countries. Data from the demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were analyzed to assess sex differentials in U5M rates before and after adjustment for individual, household, and community-level factors, using multilevel discrete-time hazard models. The findings show a systematically higher mortality for male children compared to female in all countries except Sierra Leone and Swaziland. The relationship is significant in nineteen of the thirty countries. Across the region, males have 17–54 per cent higher odds of dying before age five. These patterns remained when controls were added for individual and community-level factors, as well as unobserved community-level effects.
Web: https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/csp/index.php/csp/article/view/18528