Abstract
Diarrhea is a leading cause of death among children under five (U5) in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). This study assessed the association between the presence of household hand-washing facilities with water and soap and diarrhea episodes among children U5 in Lao PDR. Data from the Lao Social Indicator Survey II were used. The outcome variable was diarrhea episodes in the two weeks preceding the survey. The main predictor variable was the presence of household hand-washing facilities with or without water and/or soap. Mixed-effect logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association, controlling for clustering, and other predictor variables. Of the 8640 households surveyed with 11,404 children, 49.1% possessed hand-washing facilities with both water and soap and 34.7% possessed hand-washing facilities with water alone. Children whose households possessed hand-washing facilities with water alone were significantly more likely to have a diarrhea episode compared to children whose households possessed hand-washing facilities with both water and soap (8.1% vs. 5.9%; odds ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.22–1.81). The association remained significant even after adjusting for other predictors. The absence of soap in hand-washing facilities was associated with higher odds of having a diarrhea episode among children U5 in Lao PDR.
Highlights
IntroductionDiarrhea is a leading cause of death among children under five years of age (U5), especially in low- and lower middle-income countries [1,2]
The Global Burden of Diseases Diarrhoeal Diseases Collaborators estimated that the mortality of diarrheal disease in children U5 was 97.1/100,000, and approximately 1,000,000 episodes occurred in children U5 in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) in 2015 [7]
The present study showed that the proportion of households using hand-washing facilities with water and soap is 49.1%, suggesting that continued efforts are needed to achieve Target 6.2 in Lao
Summary
Diarrhea is a leading cause of death among children under five years of age (U5), especially in low- and lower middle-income countries [1,2]. Organization, approximately 525,000 children U5 die from diarrheal disease each year [3]. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is a lower middle-income country located in Southeast Asia. In Lao PDR, the mortality rate of children U5 remains high compared to those in neighboring countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, which is due partly to diarrhea [4,5,6]. The Global Burden of Diseases Diarrhoeal Diseases Collaborators estimated that the mortality of diarrheal disease in children U5 was 97.1/100,000, and approximately 1,000,000 episodes occurred in children U5 in Lao PDR in 2015 [7]
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