Abstract
BackgroundDiarrhoea is one of the major contributors to death among under-five children in Ethiopia. Studies conducted in different countries showed that rural children are more severely affected by diarrhoea than urban children. Thus, this study was aimed to identify the socio-demographic, environmental and behavioural associated risk factors of the occurrence of diarrhoea among under-five children in rural Ethiopia.MethodsData for the study was drawn from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. A total of 8041 under-five children were included in the study. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association of occurrence of diarrhoea with socio-demographic, environmental and behavioural factors among under-five children.ResultsChildren aged 6–11 months (AOR:3.5; 95% CI: 2.58–4.87), 12–23 months (AOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 2.33–4.04) and 24–35 months (AOR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.26–2.34) as compared to > 35 months were significantly associated with an increasing prevalence of diarrhoea. Children in Afar region (AOR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.01–3.64) and Gambela region (AOR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.18, 3.81) were significantly associated with an increasing prevalence of diarrhoea, but a decreasing prevalence in Somali region (AOR: .42; 95% CI: (.217–.80) as compared to Tigray region. Increasing prevalence of diarrhoea was also significantly associated with male children (AOR: 1.3; 95% CI: 1.05–1.58); households who shared toilet facilities with other households (AOR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.09–1.77); fourth birth order (AOR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.17–2.79), and fifth and above birth order (AOR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.81) as compared to first order; and mother’s current age 35–49 years in a household with ≥3 under-five children (AOR: 4.7; 95% CI: 1.64–13.45) as compared to those maternal ages of 15–24 years in a household with ≤2 under-five children.ConclusionThe age of a child, sex of a child, region, birth order, toilet facilities shared with other households and the interaction effect of the number of under-five children with mother’s current age are identified as associated risk factors for diarrhoea occurrence among under-five children in rural Ethiopia. The findings show the need for planning and implementing appropriate prevention strategies considering these risk factors for rural under-five children.
Highlights
Diarrhoea is one of the major contributors to death among under-five children in Ethiopia
Associated risk factors of Diarrhoea In bivariate analysis, the chi-square test results (Tables 1 and 2) and the estimated crude odds ratios (Table 3) showed that there were a significant association between occurrence of diarrhoea and mother’s current age, sex of a child, current age of a child, region, number of underfive children, wealth index of the household, religion, number of household members, current breastfeeding status, type of toilet facility and toilet facilities shared with other households at 5% level of significance
The age of a child, sex of a child, region, birth order, toilet facilities shared with other households and the interaction effect of number of under-five children with current age of mothers are identified as associated risk factors for diarrhoea occurrence among under-five children in rural Ethiopia
Summary
Diarrhoea is one of the major contributors to death among under-five children in Ethiopia. Diarrhoea is usually a symptom of an infection in the intestinal tract, which can be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms. It can last several days and can leave the body without the water and salts that are necessary for survival. It depletes the body fluids and can cause severe dehydration, which can lead to death if not treated properly. In low-income countries, children under 3 years old experience on average three episodes of diarrhoea every year [1]
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