TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of parent's death on child survival in rural Bangladesh
T2 - a cohort study
AU - Ronsmans, Carine
AU - Chowdhury, Mahbub E.
AU - Dasgupta, Sushil K.
AU - Ahmed, Anisuddin
AU - Koblinsky, Marge
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID, grant number GHS-A00-0300019-00 ), UK Department for International Development (DFID, grant number AG 3318 ), and a DFID grant through the Research Program Consortium (grant number D-00024 ). The salaries of MEC and CR were supported by DFID through the Research Program Consortium ( GR 00458 ). MEC was partly supported by a training grant from the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center ( TW007587-04 ). SKD, AA, and MK were partly supported by the USAID grant. International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh acknowledges with gratitude the commitment of USAID and DFID to the centre's research efforts. We thank Tom Marshall for help with the statistical analysis.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Background: The effect of a parent's death on the survival of the children has been assessed in only a few studies. We therefore investigated the effect of the death of the mother or father on the survival of the child up to age 10 years in rural Bangladesh. Methods: We used data from population surveillance during 1982-2005 in Matlab, Bangladesh. We used Kaplan-Meier and Poisson regression analyses to compute the cumulative probabilities of survival and rates of age-specific death up to age 10 years, according to the survival status of the mother or father during that period. Findings: There were 144 861 livebirths, and 14 868 children died by 10 years of age. The cumulative probability of survival to age 10 years was 24% in children whose mothers died (n=1385) before their tenth birthday, compared with 89% in those whose mothers remained alive (n=143 473). The greatest effect was noted in children aged 2-5 months whose mothers had died (rate ratio 25·05, 95% CI 18·57-33·81). The effect of the father's death (n=2691) on cumulative probability of survival of the child up to 10 years of age was negligible. Age-specific death rates did not differ in children whose fathers died compared with children whose fathers were alive. Interpretation: The devastating effects of the mother's death on the survival of the child were most probably due to the abrupt cessation of breastfeeding, but the persistence of the effects up to 10 years of age suggest that the absence of maternal care might be a crucial factor. Funding: US Agency for International Development, UK Department for International Development, Research Program Consortium, and National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center.
AB - Background: The effect of a parent's death on the survival of the children has been assessed in only a few studies. We therefore investigated the effect of the death of the mother or father on the survival of the child up to age 10 years in rural Bangladesh. Methods: We used data from population surveillance during 1982-2005 in Matlab, Bangladesh. We used Kaplan-Meier and Poisson regression analyses to compute the cumulative probabilities of survival and rates of age-specific death up to age 10 years, according to the survival status of the mother or father during that period. Findings: There were 144 861 livebirths, and 14 868 children died by 10 years of age. The cumulative probability of survival to age 10 years was 24% in children whose mothers died (n=1385) before their tenth birthday, compared with 89% in those whose mothers remained alive (n=143 473). The greatest effect was noted in children aged 2-5 months whose mothers had died (rate ratio 25·05, 95% CI 18·57-33·81). The effect of the father's death (n=2691) on cumulative probability of survival of the child up to 10 years of age was negligible. Age-specific death rates did not differ in children whose fathers died compared with children whose fathers were alive. Interpretation: The devastating effects of the mother's death on the survival of the child were most probably due to the abrupt cessation of breastfeeding, but the persistence of the effects up to 10 years of age suggest that the absence of maternal care might be a crucial factor. Funding: US Agency for International Development, UK Department for International Development, Research Program Consortium, and National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60704-0
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60704-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 20569842
AN - SCOPUS:77952976006
SN - 0140-6736
VL - 375
SP - 2024
EP - 2031
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
IS - 9730
ER -