Prevalence of Diarrheain Under-Five Children among Health Extension Model and Non-Model Households in Sheko District Rural Community, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Childhood mortality rates reduction by two-thirds is one of the Millennium Development Goals target. Worldwide diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in under-five year’schildren.It is responsible for 1.7 million morbidity and 760, 000 mortality of children every year. In Ethiopia diarrhea kills half million under-five children annually.Around 90% of diarrheal disease occurs due to poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water supply and inadequate personal hygiene. In Ethiopia healthcare, those factors are included in health extension programme as intervention package, which is introduced in 2002/03. As a strategy of the programme households have been graduated as Model Families by the 16 interventional packages.Objective: To assess prevalence of diarrheal disease in under-five children among health extension model and non-model families in Sheko district rural community, Southwest Ethiopia.Methods: a community based comparative cross-sectional study design was employed from January 31 to February29/2012 in Sheko district. A stratified multi-stage simple random sampling technique was used to select 825 (275 model and 550 non-model) households that had at least one under-five children. Data was collected using pre-tested questionnaire by trained data collectors. A summery descriptive summery statistics and chi-square test was computed to describe the data.Result:In the study 265 model and 529 non-modelhouseholds with at least one under-five childrenwere enrolled the interview, which makes a response rate of 96.2%. Almost all of the respondents were the real mothers of the index child for both groups [264 (99.6%) model and 528 (99.8%) non-model households]. Regarding to religion Orthodox was shared more than half of the total study population for both group [167 (63.0%), model and 332 (62.8%), non-model households]. Among the study participants 74 (27.9%) model and 188 (35.5%) non-model households was Bench by ethnicity.The two weeks diarrhea prevalence in under-fives among model and non-model household were 6.4% and 25.5%, respectively, which is statistically significant different [x2 = 41.63, P< 0.01].Conclusion: there is significant difference of diarrheal prevalence was observed among children’s whose families were model and non-model for health extension programme. Thus encouraging households being model families should be strengthening to reduce childhood diarrhea.