Poisson logit hurdle model with associated factors of perinatal mortality in Ethiopia

Abstract Perinatal mortality is the total number of fetal death and early neonatal death. Perinatal mortality is a major public health problem, particularly in developing countries, and is used as an implication of the economic, social, and health status of the country. The analysis of count data with hurdle and zero-inflated count models are the most applicable methods to accommodate with excessive zero counts. Therefore, this study aimed to apply the Poisson logit hurdle model to identify the associated factors of perinatal mortality in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was conducted in Ethiopia using EDHS 2016. The sample was multistage stratified and units selected in a two-stage cluster sampling design. The association between the outcome and the independent variables was determined using the Poisson logit hurdle model. A total of 7230 mothers were obtained from EDHS 2016 survey. Of these mothers, 95.27% of them never, 4.47% of them once, 0.26% twice, and 0.04% three times experienced perinatal mortality preceding 5 years of the survey. The main protective associated factors were 40–49 years age of mother, having long preceding birth interval, and secondary + husband education. Parity is greater than four, rural residence, Caesarean section delivery, multiple pregnancies, institutional delivery, having a history of abortion were increased perinatal mortality per mother. This study implies that intervention is needed on family planning and mode of delivery to minimize perinatal mortality in the country.