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Background: Ensuring child survival is a critical global challenge, requiring a robust and comprehensive understanding of the risk factors contributing to under-five mortality (U5M). We aimed to synthesise and summarise the current available evidence on risk factors of U5M and infant mortality worldwide to inform global child health programmes.
Methods: We searched six major databases (Embase, Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Global Health) and repositories of systematic reviews, as well as grey literature sources to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses that examined the associations between risk factors of U5M and infant mortality between 1 January 1990 and 4 March 2024. The quality of reviews was assessed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews, Version 2 (AMSTAR 2). The strength of evidence and direction of associations was graded.
Results: Of 5684 records, we included 32 reviews (including five systematic reviews without meta-analysis) which comprised 1042 primary studies. We synthesised 28 and 29 unique risk factors associated with U5M and infant mortality, respectively. Although there was no convincing evidence for the risk factors, we found probable evidence of association between exclusive breastfeeding (consistent negative association), and maternal death (consistent positive association) with U5M. There was also probable evidence for the association of short (<18 months) interpregnancy intervals (less consistent negative association), pre-pregnancy maternal obesity (consistent positive association), and maternal HIV infection (consistent positive association) with infant mortality.
Conclusions: While the review identified a broad range of risk factors, the overall evidence for most factors associated with under-five and infant mortality was 'limited-suggestive' or 'limited and no conclusive'. Thus, further high-quality studies are required to strengthen the evidence on these risk factors.
Registration: PROSPERO CRD42023455542.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.7189/jogh.14.04260 | DOI Listing |
World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg
September 2025
Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Medical School, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
To analyze in-hospital mortality in children undergoing congenital heart interventions in the only public referral center in Amazonas, North Brazil, between 2014 and 2022. This retrospective cohort study included 1041 patients undergoing cardiac interventions for congenital heart disease, of whom 135 died during hospitalization. Records were reviewed to obtain demographic, clinical, and surgical data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJAMA Netw Open
September 2025
Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.
Importance: Higher intellectual abilities have been associated with lower mortality risk in several longitudinal cohort studies. However, these studies did not fully account for early life contextual factors or test whether the beneficial associations between higher neurocognitive functioning and mortality extend to children exposed to early adversity.
Objective: To explore how the associations of child neurocognition with mortality changed according to the patterns of adversity children experienced.
Int J Surg
September 2025
Department of Gynecology, Hainan General Hospital, Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China.
Background: Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecological cancer, with fewer than 50% of patients surviving more than five years after diagnosis. This study aimed to analyze the global epidemiological trends of ovarian cancer from 1990 to 2021 and also project its prevalence to 2050, providing insights into these evolving patterns and helping health policymakers use healthcare resources more effectively.
Methods: This study comprehensively analyzes the original data related to ovarian cancer from the GBD 2021 database, employing a variety of methods including descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, age-period-cohort (APC) analysis, decomposition analysis, predictive analysis, frontier analysis, and health inequality analysis.