Page 68 - IJPS-11-4

International Journal of
Population Studies Early marriage and infant mortality in SSA

Table 4. Cox proportional hazard model examining the effects of child marriage, women’s empowerment, and selected control
variables on infant mortality
Variables Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6 Model 7
Age at first marriage
18+years (RC) 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
15 – 17 1.38 (1.06 – 1.80)* 1.33 (1.02 – 1.74)* 1.07 (.81 – 1.39) 1.09 (.81 – 1.44) 1.05 (0.78 – 1.39)
<15 years 1.34 (1.01 – 1.89)* 1.26 (0.89 – 1.79) 0.91 (.63 – 1.32) 0.94 (.62 – 1.40) 0.90 (0.60 – 1.36)
Women’s decision-making
Less empowerment 1.41 (1.10 – 1.84)** 1.31 (1.01 – 1.69)* 1.28 (.98 – 1.65) 1.23 (0.94 – 1.61)
More empowerment 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Maternal educational attainment
No formal education 1.00 1.00 1.00
Primary 1.06 (0.79 – 1.42) 1.14 (0.85 – 1.52) 1.30 (0.94 – 1.79)
Secondary or higher 0.8 (0.58 – 0.96)* 0.89 (0.64 – 1.23) 1.00 (0.70 – 1.44)
Maternal occupation
Not working 1.00 1.00 1.00
Professional/technical/managerial work 0.92 (0.23 – 3.79) 0.99 (.24 – 3.97) 1.01 (0.23 – 4.21)
Clerical/sales/agriculture/service 1.08 (0.83 – 1.39) 1.14 (0.88 – 1.47) 1.04 (0.77 – 1.41)
Manual labor 0.81 (0.52 – 1.25) 0.86 (0.55 – 1.33) 0.89 (0.55 – 1.43)
Religion
Christianity 1.00 1.00 1.00
Islam 1.14 (0.84 – 1.55) 1.08 (0.79 – 1.45) 1.37 (0.87 – 2.14)
Others 0.88 (0.66 – 1.17) 0.89 (0.66 – 1.18) 1.18 (0.81 – 1.71)
Wealth quartile
Poorest (RC) 1.00 1.00 1.00
Poorer 0.86 (0.63 – 1.18) 0.89 (0.65 – 1.22) 0.88 (0.64 – 1.21)
Middle 0.72 (0.51 – 1.02) 0.75 (0.53 – 1.06) 0.73 (0.51 – 1.04)
Richer 0.87 (0.61 – 1.25) 0.95 (0.66 – 1.36) 0.91 (0.61 – 1.34)
Richest 0.79 (0.48 – 1.31) 0.85 (0.50 – 1.42) 0.79 (0.44 – 1.42)
Family structure
Monogamous 1.00 1.00 1.00
Polygamous 1.27 (0.95 – 1.70) 1.26 (0.94 – 1.67) 1.20 (0.89 – 1.61)
Place of residence
Rural 1.18 (0.85 – 1.64) 1.10 (0.79 – 1.52) 1.11 (0.79 – 1.56)
Urban 1.00 1.00 1.00
Child’s sex
Male 1.00 1.00
Female 1.08 (0.85 – 1.36) 1.05 (0.85 – 1.35)
Birth order
First 1.00 1.00
2 – 3 0.82 (0.61 – 1.08) 0.81 (0.61 – 1.08)
4+ 0.76 (0.46 – 0.95)* 0.76 (0.45 – 0.97)*
Birth type
Single 1.00 1.00
(Cont’d...)

Volume 11 Issue 4 (2025) 62 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2411