The effect of solid fuel use on childhood mortality in Nigeria: evidence from the 2013 cross-sectional household survey

Environmental Health

Research

John Joseph Hall¹  Osita Kingsley Ezeh²  Kingsley Emwinyore Agho³  Andrew Nicolas Page³  Michael John Dibley⁴ 

[1] School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, 2308, Callaghan, NSW, Australia;School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, 2571, Penrith, NSW, Australia;School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, 2571, Penrith, NSW, Australia;Sydney School of Public Health, Edward Ford Building (A27), University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia;

关键词: Indoor air pollution;    Solid fuels;    Nigeria;    Childhood mortality;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1476-069X-13-113

 received in 2014-08-27, accepted in 2014-11-28,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn Nigeria, approximately 69% of households use solid fuels as their primary source of domestic energy for cooking. These fuels produce high levels of indoor air pollution. This study aimed to determine whether Nigerian children residing in households using solid fuels at <5 years of age were at higher risk of death.MethodsThe 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data were analysed in Cox regression analyses to examine the effects of solid fuel use on deaths of children aged 0–28 days (neonatal), 1–11 months (post-neonatal), and 12–59 months (child).ResultsThe results indicated that approximately 0.8% of neonatal deaths, 42.9% of post-neonatal deaths, and 36.3% of child deaths could be attributed to use of solid fuels. The multivariable analyses found that use of solid fuel was associated with post-neonatal mortality (hazard ratio [HR] =1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42–2.58) and child mortality (HR = 1.63, CI: 1.09–2.42), but was not associated with neonatal mortality (HR = 1.01, CI: 0.73–1.26). Living in rural areas and poor households were associated with an increased risk of death during the three mortality periods.ConclusionLiving in a rural area and poor households were strongly associated with an increased risk of a child > 1 to < 60 months dying due to use of solid fuels. The health effects of household use of solid fuels are a major public health threat that requires increased research and policy development efforts. Research should focus on populations in rural areas and low socioeconomic households so that child survival in Nigeria can be improved.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Ezeh et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014