Sibling mortality correlation in Kenya

This paper examines whether infant and child mortality risks among successi ve siblings are closely correlated, and if so, whether the survival status of the preceding child is an important factor affecting infant and child mo rtality in Kenya. The data were drawn from the 1988/89 Kenya Demographic an d Health Survey. Logistic regression was used as the major method of data a nalysis. The results show that both infant and child mortality rates are si gnificantly higher among subsequent children whose preceding siblings had d ied in infancy than for those whose preceding sibling had survived through infancy. The effect of the survival status of the preceding child on infant mortality was statistically strong, even after a large number of control v ariables were taken into account. However, its effect on child mortality ap pears to be spurious since it was rendered statistically insignificant when just a few control variables were introduced into the analysis. The result s provide empirical evidence that infant and child mortality risks among su ccessive siblings are closely correlated in Kenyan families, and that the e ffect of the survival status of the preceding child is important in determi ning infant mortality but not child mortality.