Objective: Several studies dealt with factors associated with childhood mortality, especially in developing countries, but less is known about former communistic countries. We therefore analyzed the factors affecting mortality rates among children in the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We focused on the impact of living place (rural versus urban) and age dependency (neonatal versus under-three mortality) on the mortality risk.

Methods: We used the Demographic and Health Surveys data (DHS) for the three Central Asian countries. The combined data set included information about 2867 children under the age of three, 135 of whom died. We studied three multiple logistic regression models: for the mortality under the age of three, for neonatal mortality (1st month of life) and for mortality in 2nd-36th month of life.

Results: Under-three mortality was independently associated with living in a rural versus urban area (OR 1.69 (CI 1.11-2.56)), birth order and mother not being currently married vs. married (OR 0.52 (CI 0.25-1.08)). There was a lower risk of mortality for children living in larger families (six or more household members vs. less than six, OR 0.45 (CI 0.30-0.65)). Living in a rural area was more strongly associated with mortality in 2-36 month of life than with neonatal mortality. Differences between countries were greater in neonatal mortality than in mortality between 2nd-36th month of life.

Conclusions: This study suggests that urban-rural differences with respect to childhood mortality in these countries persist after adjusting for several socioeconomic factors.