The prevalence rate and preventive measures of diarrhea in children under five years of age in Suryabinayak municipality, Bhaktapur

Abstract

Introduction: Diarrheal disease forms one of the two major killer diseases in children under five years of age in the developing world. According to World Health Organization (2017), diarrhea related deaths in Nepal accounts for 4.83% of total deaths. Prevalence of diarrhea in children under five in Nepal was reported to be 9.7 % in 2016. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 92 caregivers using simple random technique. Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. t-test was used for comparison. Prevalence of diarrhea was analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS 16.0. Results: Prevalence of diarrhea among under five children in Suryabinayak Municipality was 39%. There was no association between prevalence of diarrhea and variables such as age of caregivers, number of children in their houses, source of drinking water, presence of toilet and gender of child, while association was found in case of education level of caregivers, income of the family, exclusive breast feeding and ways of purification of water. Preventive measures like hand-washing, proper waste disposal, clean drinking water, breast feeding helped lower diarrheal frequency in children under five years of age. Conclusions: The burden of diarrhea in Suryabinayak Municipality is quite high, which is associated with education of caregiver, income, exclusive breast feeding and ways of purification of drinking water.