ISSN 2756-3456
Global Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 3 (3), pp. 001-007 March, 2014. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Correlation between socioeconomic differences and infant mortality in the Arab World (1990-2009)
Mazen Abuqamar1*, Danny Coomans2 and Fred Louckx1
1Department of Medical Sociology and Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Brussels, Belgium.
2Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Accepted 08 December, 2013
Abstract
The infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important indicators of the socioeconomic and of the health status of a community and is considered as an index of differentials in health and socioeconomic condition in a community. This article was aimed to determine the relationship between socio -economic differences (literacy rate, unemployment, poverty, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), early marriage, consanguineous marriage) and infant mortality in the Arab World during the last two decades Statistical analysis was performed on data extracted from the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) and world health organization (WHO). The results of this study showed a decline in infant mortality rate (IMR) among Arab countries. There was an inverse association between infant mortality and literacy. Poverty, GDP and early marriage had a significant relationship with infant mortality. Despite the falling in infant mortality rate, the rate of infant mortality is still high in the Arab World.
Key words: Socioeconomic differences, infant mortality, Arab World.