[Use of the linkage method to identify the risk factors associated with infant mortality: an integrative review of the literature].

Global concern in relation to child mortality gained visibility with the release of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 in which the reduction of child mortality is included under goal number four, which proposes to reduce the mortality rate of children under five years by two thirds between 1990 and 2015. Reducing child mortality has been a major priority of social health policies of the Brazilian government. The identification of risk factors associated with infant mortality can assist in the planning of actions to restructure and improve care for pregnant women and newborns in order to reduce child mortality.