Distribution of causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic groups in Ghana; a descriptive study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Martin Stafström¹  Kontie M Moussa¹  Benedict O Asamoah²  Geofrey Musinguzi² 

[1] Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Division of Social Medicine and Global Health, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden;International Master Programme in Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden;

关键词: Maternal Mortality;    Married Woman;    Maternal Death;    Single Woman;    Verbal Autopsy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-159

 received in 2010-10-13, accepted in 2011-03-10,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGhana's maternal mortality ratio remains high despite efforts made to meet Millennium Development Goal 5. A number of studies have been conducted on maternal mortality in Ghana; however, little is known about how the causes of maternal mortality are distributed in different socio-demographic subgroups. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess and analyse the causes of maternal mortality according to socio-demographic factors in Ghana.MethodsThe causes of maternal deaths were assessed with respect to age, educational level, rural/urban residence status and marital status. Data from a five year retrospective survey was used. The data was obtained from Ghana Maternal Health Survey 2007 acquired from the database of Ghana Statistical Service. A total of 605 maternal deaths within the age group 12-49 years were analysed using frequency tables, cross-tabulations and logistic regression.ResultsHaemorrhage was the highest cause of maternal mortality (22.8%). Married women had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage, compared with single women (adjusted OR = 2.7, 95%CI = 1.2-5.7). On the contrary, married women showed a significantly reduced risk of dying from abortion compared to single women (adjusted OR = 0.2, 95%CI = 0.1-0.4). Women aged 35-39years had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage (aOR 2.6, 95%CI = 1.4-4.9), whereas they were at a lower risk of dying from abortion (aOR 0.3, 95% CI = 0.1-0.7) compared to their younger counterparts. The risk of maternal death from infectious diseases decreased with increasing maternal age, whereas the risk of dying from miscellaneous causes increased with increasing age.ConclusionsThe study shows evidence of variations in the causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic subgroups in Ghana that should not be overlooked. It is therefore recommended that interventions aimed at combating the high maternal mortality in Ghana should be both cause-specific as well as target-specific.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Asamoah et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011