Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 38 1 2009 03 15 48 52 R Chaman Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Institute for Public Health Res K Holakouie Naieni Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Institute for Public Health Res B Golestan Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Institute for Public Health Res H Nabavizadeh Dept. of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Iran M Yunesian Dept. of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, and Center for Environmental Research, Tehra 2015 10 03 Background: Due to complex causal framework of neonatal mortality, improvement of this health indicator is quite gradual and it's decreasing trend is not as great as other health indicators such as infant and under 5 mortality rates.This study was conducted to evaluate neonatal mortality risk factors based on nested case-control design. Methods:  The study population was 6900 neonates who were born in rural areas of Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad province (South of Iran). They were under follow up till the end of neonatal period and the outcome of interest was neonatal death. By using risk set sampling method, 97 cases and 97 controls were selected in study cohort. Results: Prematurity (OR= 5.57), LBW (OR= 7.68), C-section (OR= 7.27), birth rank more than 3 (OR=6.95) and birth spac­ing less than 24 months (OR= 4.65) showed significant statistical association (P< 0.05) with neonatal mortality. The Popula­tion Attributable Fraction (PAF) was 0.45 for LBW, 0.40 for prematurity, 0.28 for C-section, 0.30 for birth rank more than 3, and 0.16 for birth spacing less than 24 months. Conclusion: Prematurity, low birth weight, C-section, birth spacing less than 24 months and birth rank more than 3 are impor­tant risk factors for neonatal mortality. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/3210 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/3210/3009