Prevalence and Risk Factors of Acute Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years of Age in Urban Slums of Bahawalpur

Abstract

Aim: To find out the prevalence and risk factors of acute diarrhea in children between six months to five years of age. Methodology: It is cross-sectional analytical study conducted in urban slums of Bahawalpur from January to December 2019. Approval from institutional ethical review committee was obtained. Sample size was 324 with 95% level of confidence, 5% margin of error and 31.1% expected population proportion. Tibba Badar sher and Bhatta # 2,3 were two slum areas of Bahawalpur city selected by simple random method. In two slum areas, 324 children aged six months to five years were selected by systematic random sampling on household basis in proportionate way i.e. 271 from Tibba Badar Sher and 53 from Bhatta No. 2,3. Data was collected by using structured questionnaire and for data analysis SPSS version 22 was used. Results: Prevalence of diarrhea in children under 5 years of age, living in urban slums was 38.9%. Diarrhea was more common in children whose mothers were working women and mothers not practiced hand washing before feeding child. Conclusion: Diarrhea was common in children whose mothers were not washing their hands before feeding and also among children not vaccinated against measles and rotavirus. Key words: Diarrhea, Rota virus, Hand washing, Vaccination