Indicadores de mortalidade infantil e na infância no Brasil: uma análise do âmbito local ao nacional

Abstract

This ecological study aimed to calculate the rates and analyze the main causes of infant, early neonatal, late neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in Brazil and Brazilian regions between 2016 and 2020. Data on deaths and births were extracted from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Live Birth Information System (SINASC). The rates were calculated per thousand live births (LB) for the total number of deaths and the five main deaths in children under one year of age were analyzed. The main causes of mortality in children under one year of age were those listed in Chapters XVI (Some conditions originating in the perinatal period) and XVII (Congenital malformations, deformities and chromosomal anomalies). Disparately, others such as those of Chapters I (Some infectious and parasitic diseases), X (Diseases of the respiratory system), XVIII (Symptoms, signs and abnormal findings of clinical and laboratory tests, not elsewhere classified) and XX (External causes of morbidity and mortality) appear with less expressiveness. Mortality rates decreased in the period analyzed in all regions and in all years, except for the late neonatal mortality rate in the North Region, which showed an increase of 0.4% from 2016 to 2020. The reduction in infant mortality rates and their components reflects an important advance in the period, but that still exposes the existing geographical disparities in the country. The main causes of mortality are still related to childbirth and postpartum, which represents an evident need for better prenatal conditions.