Aproximaciones metodológicas al estudio de la mortalidad infantil en Chile

introduction: infant mortality rate (imr) is still considered a relevant population health indicator. knowing related factors and implementation of specific policies positively impacts its reduction. objective: to evaluate the evolution of the studies on infant mortality in chile in the last three decades. patients and methods: a systematic search using medline, lilacs and scielo databases was carried out. global and component imr was reviewed. results: imr has been reduced considerably since 1980. sixty-eight papers were found, mostly in national journals and bulletins. most of them (73.5%) were descriptive studies, although association studies have increased since 2000. the main data source was national institute of statistics (47%). the most frequently studied variables were: cause of death (42.6%), maternal age (30.9%) and site (17.6%). analysis strategies are mostly descriptive, although studies of association most often utilize correlation indices. conclusion: infant mortality continues to be a topic of interest to researchers, who use different strategies. continued study is encouraged.