Cohort profile: the WHO Child Mortality Risk Stratification Multi-Country Pooled Cohort (WHO-CMRS) to identify predictors of mortality through early childhood

• Published in: BMJ open 2024-11, Vol.14 (11), p.e085164
• Main Authors: Schwinger, Catherine, Kaldenbach, Siri, Berkley, James A, Walson, Judd L, Argaw, Alemayehu, Chowdhury, Ranadip, Strand, Tor A, Rollins, Nigel, Tahmeed, Ahmed, Alemayehu, Argaw, Rajiv, Bahl, Jeanette, Bailey, Abdullah, Baqui, Elodie, Becquey, Jay A, Berkley, Kenneth, Brown, Jobayer, Chisti Mohammed, Ranadip, Chowdhury, Hama A, Diallo, Christopher, Duggan, Denise, Evans, Wafaie, Fawzi, Ali, Fazal, Ameena, Goga, Ousmane, Guindo, Rebecca, Grais, David, Hamer, Sonja, Hess, Lieven, Huybregts, Sheila, Isanaka, Fyezah, Jehan, Jerome, Kabakyenga, Patrick, Kabore, Siri, Kaldenbach, Marko, Kerac, Rasheda, Khanam, Niranjan, Kissoon, Sengchanh, Kounnavong, Carl, Lachat, Lacey, LaGrone, Agnes, Le Port, Natasha, Lelijveld, Jef, Leroy, Mustafa, Mahfuz, Mark, Manary, Manji Karim, P, Sam, Marconi, Marie, McGrath, Raghava, Mohan Venkata, Sophie, Moore, Kenya, Mugisha Nathan, Ezekiel, Mupere, Shalton, Mwaringa, Bin, Nisar Yasir, Kulandaipalayam, Natarajan Sindhu, Moses, Ngari, Imran, Nisar, Deanna, Olney, Jean-Bosco, Ouedraogo, Andrew, Prentice, Audrey, Prost, Dominique, Roberfroid, Peter, Rockers, Nigel, Rollins, Marie, Ruel, Ali, Saleem, Sunil, Sazawal, Catherine, Schwinger, Benson, Singa, Heather, Stobaugh, Tor A, Strand, Sunita, Taneja, Molly, Timbwa, Céline, Toe Laéticia, Indi, Trehan, Geeta, Trilok-Kumar, Wieger, Voskuijl, Judd L, Walson, Donqing, Wang, Ali, Waseem Arup, Matthew, Wiens
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Birth Weight; Child mortality; Child Mortality - trends; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Cohort Studies; Datasets; Developing Countries; EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES; Female; Gestational Age; Global health; Humans; Infant; Infant Mortality - trends; Infant, Newborn; Longitudinal Studies; Low income groups; Male; Mortality; Nutrition research; PAEDIATRICS; Pediatrics; PUBLIC HEALTH; Risk Assessment - methods; Risk Factors; STATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS; World Health Organization
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085164

PurposeTo provide details of a pooled data set that will be used to estimate absolute and relative mortality risks and other outcomes among children less than 59 months of age and the predictive performance of common risk exposures, both individually and in combination.ParticipantsChildren from birth to 5 years of age recruited at health facilities or community settings into 33 longitudinal observational or intervention studies in 17 low- and middle-income countries.Findings to dateThe data set includes 75 287 children with a median age of 3 months (IQR 1–12) at first measurement. In the pooled sample, 2805 (3.7%) of the study children died. Data on birth weight was recorded in 19 studies, and gestational age in 13 studies. Among these, 14% of the included children were reported as having low birth weight, and 14% had preterm birth. At first measurement, 33% of the children were stunted, 24% were wasted and 35% underweight. 13% and 7% of caregivers reported that their child had acute diarrhoea or acute lower respiratory tract infection before the study visit, respectively. The proportion of children reported as breastfed at any study visit decreased from 99% at age