CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Infant mortality refers to
the death of a infant born alive before its first birthday and infant mortality
is the death of a infant aged between one and five years. Demographers have for
a long time been interested in the study of mortality which is one of the
components of population change. Infant and infant mortality are among the best
indicators of socioeconomic development because a society life expectancy at
birth is determined by the survival chance of infants and infant.
Infanthood mortality is an
important indicator of all heath programs and policies; likewise it contributes
to population projection. Infanthood mortality measures also help identify
specific population that are at increase in health risk. Several measures of infanthood
mortality are calculated using Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data. During the
twentieth century almost all countries experienced decreases in infant
mortality rate. However, the timing and pace of the decline varied
substantially. Sustained reductions in infant mortality began in the nineteenth
century in Europe, North America, and Japan and continued gradually throughout
the twentieth century. Major declines in other parts of the world generally
began only after World War II. Mortality reductions in Asia, Latin America and
Africa were usually much more rapid that they had been in countries that began
mortality declines earlier. By 1999 there were great variations in infant
mortality among countries for example, although less than 0.5 percent of infant
died before the fifth birthday in Iceland, more than 33 percent died by age
five in Niger. Since the 1960s the decline in infant mortality sometimes has appeared
to have stagnated as was the period from 1975– 1985, when many poor countries
experienced severe crises and other problems such as economic recovery from the
0.1 crisis of 1973 – 1974. Recent evidence suggests that infant mortality has
continued to decline in most countries since 1980. However, during the 1990s
the HIV/AIDS epidemic halted or reversed declines in infant mortality in some
eastern and southern African countries. For example, in Nigeria in the period
1990 – 1994 there were 50 deaths under age five per 1,000 live births.
Statistics therefore as the
science of information analysis or scientific method of collecting, presenting
or organizing and interpreting numerical data in such a way that valid and
useful conclusion will be drawn to clear away uncertainties. It implies in many
aspects of studies and life in general one of the aspects is demography. The
demography means the study of human population and factors that affect it.
These are fertility, morbidity mortality etc. but the scope of these project be
centered on analyzing infant and infant mortality rate among various age groups
we shall consider how genders is also related to death in a particular age
group.
Federal Medical Center
Keffi (FMC) was formally known as General Hospital Keffi. It is located at the
center of the town, along old Akwanga road; it was upgraded to its current
status as Federal Medical Center (FMC),during the first democratic government
of former Senator, Dr. (Alh) Abdullahi Adamu, the Sarkin Yakin Keffi, and the
Aare Obateru of the source in the year 2003. The hospital then had a staff
capacity of 1687with a bed space of 774.Currently the Federal Medical Center
(FMC) Keffi has over 3687 work force (staff) with about 1200 bed space in
estimate. FMC was built in order to create easy access to good medical facility
to its populace (Nasarawa State) people of Nigeria at large.
1.2
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The incidence of infant and
infant mortality has been of great concern to both the government and
individuals. The needs for policies that may adequately arrest the situation
cannot be achieved without some in depth acquaintance with the available dates.
This study will address vital issues as the fate of infant mortality, infant
mortality, and age specific fertility. It will in addition consider the trend
of infant and infant mortality and the difference between them specifically at
the Federal Medical Centre Keffi.
1.3
AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.3.1 AIM
To analyze the reported
cases on the incidence of infant and infant mortality in FMC Keffi.
1.3.2
OBJECTIVES
- To test for the difference of
two means between infant and infant mortality rate. - To estimate infant and infant
mortality rate. - To estimate age specific
fertility rate. - To determine the trend line and
forecast of infant and infant mortality.
1.4
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is expected that
findings from the study will greatly assist Nasarawa State in determining the
extent to which several measures that are put into place have been effective in
reducing mortality rate in Nasarawa States.
The finding will also
assist the government to come up with definite policies on how to minimize
infant and infant mortality rate.
1.5
DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
In this study, the number
of the mortality considered are two which are the infant and infant mortality
in Federal Medical Centre Keffi, Nasarawa State.
1.6
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
In the process of carrying
out the research work time constraint and financial problem are the problems
faced during the course of obtaining data from the medical center.
1.7
HYPOTHESES OF RESEARCH QUESTION
There is no
significant difference between infant and infant mortality rate in FMC Keffi
There is significant
difference between infant and infant mortality rate in FMC Keffi
1.8
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Neonatal Mortality: The
probability of dying within the 1st month of life.
Infant Mortality: The
probability of dying before the 1st birthday
Infant Mortality: The
probability of dying before the fifth birthday.
Crude Death Rate: This
is the simplest and commonest mortality measurement it defines as the number of
death in a year per one thousand of the mid population i.e.
CDR = D/P x k
Where;
D =number of death in a given
year
P =total population of the
mid-year
K = constant
Age Specific Death Rate: This
is the number of death of person ofa given age during a year per one thousand
(1000) populations. It isusually compared 5 — 10 years age range. Though
consideration isusually given to the infant because of their relatively great
multitude of death rates, hence separate rate are usually shown for the group.
Between 1 – 4 years.
ASDR=
Where;
is the number of deaths in
a given year say 0 — 4 month
is the total population of
age 0 — 4 month of mid-year K is the constant.
Cause Specific Death
Rate: This is the number of death from a given
cause or group of causes during a year per ten thousand of mid-year population
in cause specific death rate larger constant is used because there are
relatively few deaths from many of the cause.