OBJECTIVES: to characterize mortality in children aged under five years in the three-year period, 2004-2006, identifying sociodemographic inequalities and differences in the cause of death among the sub-regions of the State of Pernambuco. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was carried out of 6721 deaths of children aged under five living in municipalities with death and alive newborn registers and these were divided up into four sub-regions. For the variables under study, inequalities in proportional mortality (chi-squared) and mortality rates among children aged under five (MRU5) - ratio of rates and over-mortality - were analyzed. RESULTS: among the sub-regions, the MRU5 varied from 18.3/1000NV (in the Metropolitan Region of Recife - RMR) to 28.4/1000NV (in the Sertão), the mean being 21.7/1000NV. The higher MRU5s for Mata, Agreste and Sertão compared to the MRU5 for the RMR represent an over-mortality rate of 1055. The proportional mortality differed (p<0.05) as to place of death occurence, characteristics of municipality of residence (HDI, women's literacy, fecundity rate) specific basic causes of the chapters of perinatal diseases, infectious diseases and parasites. In the Sertão, the MRU5 that could be reduced to adequate care levels for pregnant women, delivery and newborns, by promoting health and adequate diagnosis and treatment were 1.6; 2.2 and 2.7 times higher than in the RMR. CONCLUSIONS: mortality in children aged under five in Pernambuco revealed inequalities among the sub-regions.
Child mortality; Causes of death; Health inequalities
