FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LEVEL OF COMPLETENESS OF BIRTH AND DEATH REGISTRATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The registration of births and deaths in Nigeria as with most developing countries continues to remain sub-optimal with many births and deaths being unregistered. This has negative consequences for economic planning and development of a country. The study seeks to determine the level of the completeness of birth and death registration in Nigeria and the associated factors using data obtained from the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey. The survey used as a sampling frame the list of enumeration areas (EAs) prepared for the 2006 Population Census of the federal Republic of Nigeria provided by the National Population Commission. Nigeria has 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The completeness of birth registration was estimated using two indicators: the percentage of children less than five years of age whose birth registration was declared by the mother or household head at the time of the survey and children whose registration was verified by interviewer sighting their registration certificates. The completeness of death registration was estimated using Brass Growth Balance Method. Bivariate analysis was conducted for the outcome variable (the level of completeness of birth registration as measured by each of the two indicators, the level of completeness of death registration) and each of the selected independent variables. The variables that are statistically significant at 10% level were considered for inclusion in the multiple logistic regression analysis. From a total number of 178,360 respondents, the mean age of household members was 22.5± 19.7years for male and 22.3±18.8years for female that participated in the study. About 49.5% are male while 50.5% are females but 86.9% of the head of household are Male. On education, 47.2% of the household members have no education or are in preschool while 5.8% have higher education as their highest level of education. Most, 35.0% of the respondents have been married or living together while 0.9% is divorced or never married. Furthermore, the percentage of household wealth index was not that different with 20.1% richest and middle wealth index while 19.9% are poorer and poorest respectively. Birth registration completeness varies giving a lower and upper limit of 15.2% to 31.9% respectively which is derived from those whose birth certificate was seen and those mother or caregiver declared respectively. For death, the completeness of registration in Nigeria was very low with an estimate of completeness within the range 2.6% to 3.4% for age greater than 5 years. The factors affecting birth registration were: Age of head of household {P<0.05). Sex of Head of Household (P<0.05), Region (P<0.05), Type of residence (P<0.05) and Mothers highest level of education (P<0.05). For death registration, the factors affecting birth registration are: Age of head of household (P<0.05). Sex of Head of Household (P<0.05 ), Region (P<0.05 ), Type of residence (P<0.05) and Wealth Index (P<0.05). Birth and death registration were generally incomplete. Although estimates from this study are higher than those previously reported, introduction of mobile registration systems, engagement of traditional institutions and localization of strategics are suggested for improvement.