Bawankule Rahul, Singh Abhishek, Kumar Kaushalendra, Pedgaonkar Sarang
International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India.
Department of Public Health & Mortality Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India.
BMC Public Health. 2017 Jan 5;17(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3948-2.
Children's stool disposal is often overlooked in sanitation programs of any country. Unsafe disposal of children's stool makes children susceptible to many diseases that transmit through faecal-oral route. Therefore, the study aims to examine the magnitude of unsafe disposal of children's stools in India, the factors associated with it and finally its association with childhood diarrhea.
Data from the third round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) conducted in 2005-06 is used to carry out the analysis. The binary logistic regression model is used to examine the factors associated with unsafe disposal of children's stool. Binary logistic regression is also used to examine the association between unsafe disposal of children's stool and childhood diarrhea.
Overall, stools of 79% of children in India were disposed of unsafely. The urban-rural gap in the unsafe disposal of children's stool was wide. Mother's illiteracy and lack of exposure to media, the age of the child, religion and caste/tribe of the household head, wealth index, access to toilet facility and urban-rural residence were statistically associated with unsafe disposal of stool. The odds of diarrhea in children whose stools were disposed of unsafely was estimated to be 11% higher (95% CI: 1.01-1.21) than that of children whose stools were disposed of safely. An increase in the unsafe disposal of children's stool in the community also increased the risk of diarrhea in children.
We found significant statistical association between children's stool disposal and diarrhea. Therefore, gains in reduction of childhood diarrhea can be achieved in India through the complete elimination of unsafe disposal of children's stools. The sanitation programmes currently being run in India must also focus on safe disposal of children's stool.
在任何国家的卫生项目中，儿童粪便处理往往被忽视。儿童粪便的不安全处理使儿童易患许多通过粪口途径传播的疾病。因此，本研究旨在调查印度儿童粪便不安全处理的程度、与之相关的因素，以及最终其与儿童腹泻的关联。
使用2005 - 2006年进行的第三次全国家庭健康调查（NFHS - 3）的数据进行分析。二元逻辑回归模型用于研究与儿童粪便不安全处理相关的因素。二元逻辑回归也用于检验儿童粪便不安全处理与儿童腹泻之间的关联。
总体而言，印度79%的儿童粪便处理不安全。儿童粪便不安全处理的城乡差距很大。母亲的文盲程度、缺乏媒体接触、孩子的年龄、户主的宗教和种姓/部落、财富指数、厕所设施的可及性以及城乡居住情况在统计学上与粪便的不安全处理相关。粪便处理不安全的儿童患腹泻的几率估计比粪便处理安全的儿童高11%（95%置信区间：1.01 - 1.21）。社区中儿童粪便不安全处理情况的增加也增加了儿童患腹泻的风险。
我们发现儿童粪便处理与腹泻之间存在显著的统计学关联。因此，在印度，通过彻底消除儿童粪便的不安全处理，可以在减少儿童腹泻方面取得成效。印度目前正在实施的卫生项目也必须关注儿童粪便的安全处理。
