Time trends of neonatal mortality by causes of death in Shenyang, 1997–2014

// Qi-Jun Wu 1 , Li-Li Li 2 , Jing Li 3 , Chen Zhou 4 , Yan-Hong Huang 3 1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China 2 Department of children’s health prevention, Shenyang Women and Children Health Care Centre, Shenyang, China 3 Department of science and education, Shenyang Women and Children Health Care Centre, Shenyang, China 4 Department of information statistics, Shenyang Women and Children Health Care Centre, Shenyang, China Correspondence to: Qi-Jun Wu, e-mail: wuqj@sj-hospital.org Li-Li Li, e-mail: lililishenyang@sina.com Keywords: annual percent change, neonatal mortality rate, Shenyang, trend Received: November 24, 2015      Accepted: February 09, 2016      Published: February 24, 2016 ABSTRACT To investigate the rate and time trends of neonatal mortality from 1997 to 2014 in Shenyang, which were previously rarely reported upon by developing countries, data on 4719 neonatal deaths (0–28 days) and 970,583 live births from the Shenyang Women and Children Health Care Centre were analyzed. Neonatal mortality rates (per 1000 live births), percent change, and annual percent change (APC) were calculated. During the observation period, neonatal mortality in Shenyang significantly decreased by 7.04%, 8.33%, and 5.35% per year overall, in urban and rural areas, respectively. When grouped by category of neonatal death, the time trends of three categories showed statistically significant decreases: congenital malformations (APC = −9.97%), diseases of the perinatal period (APC = −6.04%), and diseases of the respiratory system (APC = −8.52%). Congenital malformations, diseases of the respiratory system, and diseases of the nervous system and sense organs were the three major contributors to the aforementioned decreasing trend, which accounted for 58.71% in overall areas. Among selective causes of neonatal death, the neonatal mortality rates of pneumonia, congenital heart disease, preterm birth and low birth weight, birth asphyxia, and intracranial hemorrhage of the newborn significantly decreased 7.87%, 7.32%, 2.47%, 11.04%, and 10.68% per year, respectively. In summary, neonatal mortality rates decreased in Shenyang during the 17-year study period. Future studies are warranted to further investigate the factors contributing to the neonatal mortality trends in China.