A prospective study on neonatal mortality and its predictors in a rural area in Burkina Faso: Can MDG-4 be met by 2015?

Objective:to measure the neonatal mortality rate (nmr) and investigate its predictors in a rural area of burkina faso.study design:a cohort of infants born in 24 villages in banfora region was followed until the children were 6 months old. we estimated the risk of neonatal death and used logistic regression to identify its predictors.result:among 864 live births followed to day 28, there were 40 neonatal deaths, a nmr of 46.3 per 1000 live births (95% confidence intervals (ci): 22 to 70). multivariable regression identified twin birth (or=11.5, 95%ci: 4.5 to 29.8), having a nulliparous mother (odds ratio (or)=4.3, 95% ci: 1.5 to 12.1), and birth into a polygynous household (or=2.1, 95% ci: 1.0 to 4.7) as main predictors of neonatal death.conclusion:the burden of neonatal mortality in rural burkina faso is very high and the observed nmrs in a predominantly rural country suggest that it is unlikely burkina will meet fourth millennium development goal (mdg-4) by 2015.