Table 1. Background characteristics of study respondents (n = 68,085).
| Variable | Chad-DHS 2015 (n = 17,719) |
DR Congo-DHS 2014 (n = 18,827) |
Mali-DHS 2013 (n = 10,424) |
Niger-DHS 2012 (n = 11,160) |
Zimbabwe-2015 (n = 9,955) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal characteristics | |||||
| Age at first birth | 17.9±3.6 | 19.2±3.8 | 18.8±4.2 | 18.3±3.6 | 19.7±3.3 |
| Age(years) | |||||
| 15–19 | 3889 (21.9) | 3981 (21.1) | 1918 (18.4) | 1901 (17.0) | 2156 (21.7) |
| 20–24 | 2995 (16.9) | 3680 (19.5) | 1880 (18.0) | 1968 (17.6) | 1782 (17.9) |
| 25–29 | 3287 (18.6) | 3485 (18.5) | 2075 (19.9) | 2281 (20.4) | 1656 (16.6) |
| 30–34 | 2540 (14.3) | 2572 (13.7) | 1657 (15.9) | 1845 (16.5) | 1591 (16.0) |
| 35–39 | 2115 (11.9) | 2191 (11.6) | 1330 (12.8) | 1421 (12.7) | 1209 (12.1) |
| 40–44 | 1545 (8.7) | 1595 (8.5) | 902 (8.7) | 995 (8.9) | 966 (9.7) |
| 45–49 | 1348 (7.6) | 1323 (7.0) | 662 (6.4) | 749 (6.7) | 595 (6.0) |
| Mean (±SD) age | 28.6±9.3 | 28.3±9.4 | 28.5±8.9 | 28.7±8.9 | 28.5±9.3 |
| Place of residence | |||||
| Urban | 4285 (24.2) | 6827 (36.3) | 3262 (31.3) | 3400 (30.5) | 4521 (45.4) |
| Rural | 13434 (75.8) | 12000 (63.7) | 7162 (68.7) | 7760 (69.5) | 5434 (54.6) |
| Level of education | |||||
| No formal | 12195 (68.8) | 3357 (17.8) | 7721 (74.1) | 8326 (74.8) | 106 (1.1) |
| Primary | 3311 (18.7) | 7320 (38.9) | 1014 (9.7) | 1439 (12.9) | 2385 (24.0) |
| Secondary | 2080 (11.7) | 7589 (40.3) | 1537 (14.7) | 1256 (11.3) | 6637 (66.7) |
| Higher | 133 (0.8) | 561 (3.0) | 152 (1.5) | 117 (1.1) | 827 (8.3) |
| Religion | |||||
| Christianity | 5663 (32.0) | 17459 (92.7) | 408 (3.9) | No data | 9385 (94.3) |
| Islam | 11459 (64.7) | 290 (1.5) | 9715 (93.2) | No data | 30 (0.3) |
| Others | 597 (3.4) | 1078 (5.7) | 301 (2.9) | No data | 540 (5.4) |
| Wealth index | |||||
| Poorest | 3183 (18.0) | 4366 (23.2) | 1828 (17.5) | 1743 (15.6) | 1499 (15.1) |
| Poorer | 3247 (18.3) | 3740 (19.9) | 1872 (18.0) | 1759 (15.8) | 1452 (14.6) |
| Middle | 3591 (20.3) | 3655 (19.4) | 1855 (17.8) | 1910 (17.1) | 1549 (15.6) |
| Richer | 4040 (22.8) | 3390 (18.0) | 1977 (19.0) | 2093 (18.8) | 2558 (25.7) |
| Richest | 3658 (20.6) | 3676 (19.5) | 2892 (27.7) | 3655 (32.8) | 2897 (29.1) |
| Currently working | |||||
| Yes | 6831 (39.1) | 12830 (68.4) | 4436 (42.6) | 3014 (27.1) | 4104 (41.2) |
| No | 10644 (60.9) | 5932 (31.6) | 5988 (57.4) | 8121 (72.9) | 5851 (58.8) |
| Marital status | |||||
| Currently married/in union | 13439 (75.8) | 12448 (66.1) | 8737 (83.8) | 9509 (85.2) | 6015 (60.4) |
| Not currently married | 4280 (24.2) | 6379 (33.9) | 1687 (16.2) | 1651 (14.8) | 3940 (39.6) |
| Child characteristic | |||||
| Birth type | |||||
| Singleton | 13936 (78.7) | 13884 (73.7) | 8323 (79.8) | 9028 (80.9) | 7111 (71.4) |
| Multiple | 3783 (21.3) | 4943 (26.3) | 2101 (20.2) | 2132 (19.1) | 2844 (28.6) |
| Sex of child | |||||
| Male | 7144 (50.5) | 7106 (50.1) | 4381 (51.7) | 4602 (50.0) | 3701 (51.0) |
| Female | 7012 (49.5) | 7076 (49.9) | 4099 (48.3) | 4607 (50.0) | 3552 (49.0) |
| Place of delivery | |||||
| Home | 8776 (49.5) | 2676 (14.2) | 2663 (25.5) | 4582 (41.1) | 734 (7.4) |
| Health facility | 8943 (50.5) | 16151 (85.8) | 7761 (74.5) | 6578 (58.9) | 9221 (92.6) |
| Mode of delivery | |||||
| Caesarean section | 146 (1.3) | 558 (4.9) | 235 (3.5) | 159 (2.1) | 328 (6.8) |
| Non-caesarean section | 10945 (98.7) | 10720 (95.1) | 6488 (96.5) | 7440 (97.9) | 4502 (93.2) |
| Size of child | |||||
| Large | 4856 (44.1) | 5517 (49.7) | 2812 (43.7) | 1684 (22.8) | 1765 (36.6) |
| Average | 3057 (27.8) | 4286 (38.6) | 2729 (42.4) | 3929 (53.2) | 2357 (48.9) |
| Small | 3097 (28.1) | 1296 (11.7) | 897 (13.9) | 1776 (24.0) | 696 (14.4) |
| Birth interval (months) | |||||
| <18 | 1261 (10.2) | 990 (8.5) | 495 (7.0) | 541 (6.7) | 195 (3.5) |
| 18–24 | 2430 (19.6) | 2073 (17.9) | 1017 (14.4) | 1420 (17.6) | 427 (7.7) |
| >24 | 8722 (70.3) | 8533 (73.6) | 5570 (78.7) | 6088 (75.6) | 4942 (88.8) |
| Birth order | |||||
| 1–4 | 6987 (49.4) | 8549 (45.2) | 5330 (51.1) | 4721 (42.3) | 6171 (62.0) |
| 5 and more | 7170 (50.6) | 10278 (54.8) | 5094 (48.9) | 6439 (57.7) | 3784 (38.0) |
From Fig 1 the trend in under-five mortality was presented across various countries in sub-Sahara region. The current under-five mortality rate was highest in Chad (133 per 1000 live births), followed by Niger (127 per 1000 live births); and lowest in Zimbabwe (69 per 1000 live births). However, the patterns showed a reduction in the trend of under-five mortality from previous years.