Análise espacial da mortalidade infantil e adequação das informações vitais: uma proposta para definição de áreas prioritárias Spatial analysis of infant mortality and the adequacy of vital information: a proposal for defining priority areas

This is an ecological study that sought to assess the relationship between the spatial clus- tering of infant mortality and the adequacy of vital information. The adequacy of information from the Brazilian Live Birth Database (SINASC) and Mortality Database (SIM) were examined using a validated method that uses five indicators calculated by municipality and population size. Municipalities were classified as either having consolidated data, data currently being consoli- dated, or not having consolidated data. Voronoi polygons were generated for spatial analysis in order to minimize any proximity issues among municipalities. The local Moran index was ap- plied to identify spatial clustering of infant mor- tality. It was established that 76.2% of all munic- ipalities had consolidated vital data. Infant mor- tality clustering was seen in 34 municipalities comprising three spatial clusters. An association was also found between the adequacy of vital in- formation and the spatial clustering of infant mortality. Geostatistical techniques proved to have predictive power to identify spatial cluster- ing with consolidated vital information. The ap- proach will contribute to the improvement of data quality and can be used for planning actions seek- ing to reduce infant mortality.