trend analysis of mortality rates for leading causes of death among under-five children in iran, 2000 - 2015

Background: this secondary study is the first to assess the trend of mortality rate and its variations among iranian children. methods: the mortality data of under-five children were extracted from the who reports. all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates were calculated per 1000 live births and by age groups for each year from 2000 to 2015. the average annual rate of reduction (aarr) was used to determine the changes in mortality rates. results: of 21011 under-five children who died in 2015, 52.3% were attributed to infectious causes. the overall mortality rate among children under five years decreased from 35 per 1000 live births in 2000 to 16 per 1000 live births in 2015, representing a decline of 55.5% over the 16-year period with an aarr of 5.5%. there was a significant decreasing trend in the mortality rates of all causes except for hiv/aids and pertussis. conclusions: the overall all-cause mortality rate decreased from 2000 to 2015 in iran although this pattern varied according to the causes of death. there is still a relatively high proportion of mortality rates among children due to congenital anomalies, prematurity, birth asphyxia, sepsis, and acute lower respiratory infections.