Socio-demographic Determinants of the Under-Five Mortality in a Rural Block of District Rohtak, Haryana Sharma Nitika1, Kumar Neelam2, Malik JS3, Singh Srishti1, Jangra Anuj1, Pawar Neeraj1 1Junior Resident, Department of Community Medicine, Pt. B D Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak 2Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Pt. B D Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak 3Senior Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Pt. B D Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak Online published on 16 March, 2018. Abstract Introduction Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) serves as an indicator for the health and socio-economic status of a given population. Earlier MDGs and now SDGs pledge to bring down the U5MR. Verbal autopsy enables to make a retrospective enquiry into events leading to death and establish probable cause of death. This study aimed to find out the determinants and causes of under-five deaths. Methodology All the under-five deaths that took place during study period in the rural block of district Rohtak were analysed using verbal autopsy. The data collection was done through house-to-house visits in this cross sectional study. Results Birth asphyxia and pneumonia were the major causes of infant deaths. The infant mortality rate was be 34.1 per 1000 live births and the under-five mortality rate was 38.2 per 1000 live births. Educational and socio-economic status of the parents significantly affected deaths. Conclusion Most of the under five children deaths can be prevented by regular and effective training programmes for health care providers and pregnant females whereas early recognition of danger signs and early referral system can save many precious lives. Top Keywords Under-five mortality, MDGs, verbal autopsy, determinants, training. Top |