Investigating the causes of death in children at Children's Hospital of Tabriz

Death has long been considered because of its substantial impacts on population dynamics. Specifically, child mortality is one of the most important indicators of development and one of the determinants of life expectancy. Investigation of child mortality causes and elimination of preventable cases can play a major role in the health and productivity of the community.

The present research was a retrospective study in which the medical records of dead children in Children’s Hospital of Tabriz were extracted from 2011 to 2016 and their demographics were recorded in special checklists. Finally, the obtained data were statistically analyzed.

The most common causes of child mortality in the studied hospital were congenital heart defects (15%), cancer (8.8%), and other congenital anomalies (8.6%), respectively. The mortality rate for males and females was equal to 55.8% and 44.2%. In addition, the highest mortality rate was related to those aged one month to 2 years (83.8%) and then 2-7 years (10.2%), and 7-18 years (6.1%). The findings also indicated that most dead children were living in urban areas.

Maternal nutrition improvement, gestational diabetes control, vaccination improvement, and increased awareness of health sector staff can be effective in reducing genetic anomalies and deaths caused by them. Therefore, special planning should be done for interventions such as referral for genetic counseling and genetic tests before cousin marriages. Moreover, pregnant women should be trained in unnecessary drug use and non-exposure to radiation and chemicals.