Logistic regression and multiple classification analyses to explore risk factors of under-5 mortality in Bangladesh

Logistic regression (lr) analysis is the most common statistical methodology to find out the determinants of childhood mortality. however,the significant predictors cannot be ranked according to their influence on the response variable. multiple classification (mc) analysis can be applied to identify the significant predictors with a priority index which helps to rank the predictors. the main objective of the study is to find the socio-demographic determinants of childhood mortality at neonatal,post-neonatal,and post-infant period by fitting lr model as well as to rank those through mc analysis. the study is conducted using the data of bangladesh demographic and health survey 2007 where birth and death information of children were collected from their mothers. three dichotomous response variables are constructed from children age at death to fit the lr and mc models. socio-economic and demographic variables significantly associated with the response variables separately are considered in lr and mc analyses. both the lr and mc models identified the same significant predictors for specific childhood mortality. for both the neonatal and child mortality,biological factors of children,regional settings,and parents’ socio-economic status are found as 1st,2nd,and 3rd significant groups of predictors respectively. mother’s education and household’s environment are detected as major significant predictors of post-neonatal mortality. this study shows that mc analysis with or without lr analysis can be applied to detect determinants with rank which help the policy makers taking initiatives on a priority basis. © pakistan academy of sciences.