Muhsen Khitam, Athamna Abed, Cohen Dani
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.
Harefuah. 2007 May;146(5):341-4, 407.
The existing limited data on diarrheal diseases in Israel indicate higher rates and more severe illness among Arab children compared to Jewish children.
To determine the incidence and risk factors of diarrheal diseases in 3-5 year old Israeli Arab children from villages of Northern Israel.
We carried out a follow-up study in 343 children who attended 9 kindergartens from 3 villages of Northern Israel. Daily surveillance was conducted on children's absenteeism from the kindergartens. The causes of absenteeism were recorded based on information received from parents' interviews. During the summer vacation, the follow-up was based on biweekly interviews. We also performed a nested case control study to identify potential risk factors of diarrheal disease; data were obtained through mothers' interviews.
During the follow-up period, 100 new episodes of diarrhea were recorded yielding an incidence rate of 0.51 episodes/12 child-months, while 55% of the episodes were associated with visits to the clinic. In the multivariate analysis, the risk of diarrheal diseases was increased in males (OR 2.31 95% CI 1.3-4), in children aged 4 years or less compared to older children (OR 1.76 95% CI 1.01-3.06), and when the mother's education was 8 years or less (OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.08-3.26). Having siblings younger than 5 years old was associated with a reduced risk of diarrheal diseases (OR 0.57 95% CI 0.3-0.9).
The incidence rate of diarrheal diseases among Israeli Arab toddlers attending kindergartens in villages from northern Israel is high. The risk factors of diarrheal disease in this population are significantly associated with features of the child and his family rather than environmental characteristics of the community or kindergarten.
以色列现有关于腹泻疾病的有限数据表明，与犹太儿童相比，阿拉伯儿童的腹泻发病率更高，病情也更严重。
确定以色列北部村庄3至5岁阿拉伯儿童腹泻疾病的发病率及风险因素。
我们对来自以色列北部3个村庄的9所幼儿园的343名儿童进行了一项随访研究。对儿童的幼儿园缺勤情况进行每日监测。根据从家长访谈中获得的信息记录缺勤原因。暑假期间，随访基于每两周一次的访谈。我们还进行了一项巢式病例对照研究以确定腹泻疾病的潜在风险因素；数据通过对母亲的访谈获得。
在随访期间，记录到100例新的腹泻发作，发病率为0.51例/12儿童月，而55%的发作与就诊有关。在多变量分析中，男性患腹泻疾病的风险增加（比值比2.31，95%置信区间1.3 - 4），4岁及以下儿童与年龄较大儿童相比风险增加（比值比1.76，95%置信区间1.01 - 3.06），母亲受教育年限为8年及以下时风险增加（比值比1.88，95%置信区间1.08 - 3.26）。有5岁以下的兄弟姐妹与腹泻疾病风险降低有关（比值比0.57，95%置信区间0.3 - 0.9）。
在以色列北部村庄幼儿园就读的阿拉伯幼儿中，腹泻疾病的发病率较高。该人群腹泻疾病的风险因素与儿童及其家庭的特征显著相关，而非社区或幼儿园的环境特征。
