Iranian Journal of

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Background & Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of mortality of children under five years old in Kurdistan Province during 2007 to 2011.

Methods: The data of this descriptive-analytical study on deaths and births was collected from provincial deaths registry system and Civil Registration System during 2007 to 2011. The main indicators including under-five mortality, infant mortality, and neonatal mortality rate during the given period were studied. The relationship between variables was calculated using chi-square test.

Results: The neonatal mortality rate changed from 13.5 per thousand live births in 2007 to 12.2 per thousand live births in 2011. During the same period of time, the infant mortality rate and under-five mortality rate declined from 17.1 and 20.2 to 14.9 and 17.4 per thousand live births, respectively. A significant relationship was found between gender and infant mortality. Among the major causes of mortality, prenatal diseases, especially infant diseases, were the most common cause of death in the neonatal period.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, although there was a reduction in the under-five mortality rate during these years, the observed decline, especially the decline in infant mortality rate, was very slow. There are still some preventable causes of death in children which require more attention by the health system and researchers

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Background and Objectives: Despite the implementation of the health reform plan and the increasing number of comprehensive centers of health services in 2014 in Iran, many people still do not attend these centers for various reasons. The aim of this study was to determine the reasons why urban households do not attend comprehensive centers of health services in Sanandaj.
 
Methods: This study was carried out using two quantitative and qualitative approaches. In the quantitative section, data were collected through a checklist and interviews with 200 household heads who did not attend. In the qualitative section, the views of physicians, other health providers, and household heads were obtained using semi-structured interviews.
 
Results: A feeling of no need for health services, paying more attention to treatment, working on morning shifts, physical problems, inappropriate location of centers, inadequate informing services to community members, inconsistency between existing services and clients’ needs, and inappropriate treatment of some health providers were the most important barriers to non-attendance of clients. Despite four years of implementation of the health reform plan in Iran, 53.5% and 60% of participants had no awareness about the presence of mental health and nutrition experts and their free services in the centers, respectively.
 
Conclusion: Although there are many reasons for people not attending comprehensive centers of health services in cities, informing and introducing services to the community and considering the clients’ needs are essential.