The determinants of birth interval in Ahvaz-Iran: a graphical chain modelling approach

Birth interval is a major determinant of the rates of fertility. In this paper a graphical modeling approach is used to study the effect of different socio-economic factors on birth intervals of children in Ahvaz-Iran. This approach provides an easily interpretable empirical description and illustrates explicitly the conditional independence structure between each pair of variables. The interpretation of each determinant on birth interval, we also examine the effects of socio-economic determinants on intermediate determinants to understand the pathways through which the socio-economic determinants affect the birth interval. The data analysed come from a sample of women referred to “Health and Medical Centres” during October and November 2002.

Keywords:

Birth interval , Graphical modeling , Iran , Mortality