Prevalence of diarrhea and associated risk factors among children under-five years of age in Eastern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Bezatu Mengistie,Yemane Berhane,Alemayehu Worku

doi:10.4236/ojpm.2013.37060

Abstract

Diarrhea remains a major cause of mortality in children under 5 years of age in Sub-Saharan countries in Africa. Risk factors for diarrhea vary by context and have important implications for developing appropriate strategies to reduce the burden of the disease. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of diarrhea and associated risk factors among children un-der 5 years of age in Kersa district, located in Eastern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1456 randomly selected households with at least one child under 5 years of age. A questionnaire and an observational check list were used for col-lecting information on socio-economic charac-teristics, environmental hygiene and behavioral practices, and occurrence of diarrhea among children under 5 years of age. Logistic regres-sion was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio of 95% confidence interval. The two-week prevalence of diarrhea among children under 5 years of age was 22.5% (95% CI: 20.3-24.6). Improper refuse disposal practices (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.20-4.03), lack of hand washing facilities (OR = 1.92, 95%CI: 1.29-2.86), living in rural area (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.12-3.31), the presence of two or more siblings in a household (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.33-2.28), and age of the child (OR= 2.25, 95% CI; 1.5-3.36) were the major risk factors for diarrhea. This study demonstrated that diarrhea morbidity was relatively high among children under 5 years of age residing in Eastern Ethiopia. Efforts to reduce childhood diarrhea should focus on improving household sanitation, personal hygiene, and child birth spacing.

Highlights

Diarrhea remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years old worldwide
Half of deaths from diarrhea among young children occur in Africa where diarrhea is the largest cause of death among children under 5 years old and a major cause of childhood illness [1,2,3,4]
Some of the factors associated with diarrhea in children in Ethiopia such as Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), maternal history of recent diarrhea, maternal education, well source of water, obtaining water from storage container by dipping, availability of latrine facilities, living in a house with fewer number of rooms, not breast feeding, duration of breast feeding, and age of the child, have been identified, diarrhea is still a major public health problem among children under 5 years old [58]

Summary

Introduction

Diarrhea remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years old worldwide. Young children are especially vulnerable to diarrheal disease and a high proportion of the deaths occur in the first 2 years of life. The majority of deaths related to diarrhea take place in Africa and South Asia. Half of deaths from diarrhea among young children occur in Africa where diarrhea is the largest cause of death among children under 5 years old and a major cause of childhood illness [1,2,3,4]. Some of the factors associated with diarrhea in children in Ethiopia such as Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), maternal history of recent diarrhea, maternal education, well source of water, obtaining water from storage container by dipping, availability of latrine facilities, living in a house with fewer number of rooms, not breast feeding, duration of breast feeding, and age of the child, have been identified, diarrhea is still a major public health problem among children under 5 years old [58]

Objectives

Methods

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Conclusion