Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Department of Environmental Health, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 Jun 20;109(2):429-435. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0192. Print 2023 Aug 2.
Globally, diarrheal disease continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age, especially in low-income countries such as Ethiopia. However, there is still limited evidence in the study area quantifying the burden of diarrheal disease among children under 5 years. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2019 to estimate the prevalence of childhood diarrhea and to identify its associated factors in Azezo sub-city, northwest Ethiopia. A simple random sampling technique was applied to recruit the eligible cluster villages with children under 5 years. Data were collected by interviewing mothers or guardians using structured questionnaires. The completed data were entered into EpiInfo version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with diarrheal disease. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was used to measure the strength of association between the dependent and independent variable. The period prevalence of diarrheal disease among children under 5 years was 24.9% (95% CI: 20.4-29.7%). Age group between 1 and 12 months [AOR: 9.22, 95% CI: (2.93-29.04)] and 13 and 24 months [AOR: 4.44, 95% CI: (1.87-10.56)], as well as low monthly income (AOR: 3.68, 95% CI: (1.81-7.51)] and poor handwashing practice [AOR: 8.37, 95% CI: (3.12-22.52), were significantly associated with high risk of childhood diarrhea. In contrast, small family size [AOR: 0.32, 95% CI: (0.16-0.65)], and immediate consumption of prepared meals [AOR: 0.39, 95% CI: (0.19-0.81)] were significantly associated with low risk of childhood diarrhea. Diarrheal diseases were a common health problem among children under 5 years of age in Azezo sub-city. Therefore, an appropriate hygiene intervention program through health education is recommended with a focus on identified risk factors to reduce the burden of diarrheal diseases.
在全球范围内，腹泻病仍然是 5 岁以下儿童发病率和死亡率的主要原因，尤其是在埃塞俄比亚等低收入国家。然而，在研究区域内，仍然缺乏定量评估 5 岁以下儿童腹泻病负担的证据。2019 年 4 月，在埃塞俄比亚西北部的 Azezo 次市进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究，以估计儿童腹泻的患病率，并确定其相关因素。采用简单随机抽样技术招募了有 5 岁以下儿童的合格聚类村。通过访谈母亲或监护人使用结构化问卷收集数据。将完成的数据输入 EpiInfo 版本 7 并导出到 SPSS 版本 20 进行分析。采用二项逻辑回归模型确定与腹泻病相关的因素。使用调整后的比值比（AOR）和 95%置信区间（CI）来衡量因变量和自变量之间的关联强度。5 岁以下儿童腹泻的时期患病率为 24.9%（95%CI：20.4-29.7%）。1 至 12 个月年龄组（AOR：9.22，95%CI：（2.93-29.04））和 13 至 24 个月年龄组（AOR：4.44，95%CI：（1.87-10.56））以及低月收入（AOR：3.68，95%CI：（1.81-7.51））和不良洗手习惯（AOR：8.37，95%CI：（3.12-22.52））与儿童腹泻的高风险显著相关。相反，家庭规模小（AOR：0.32，95%CI：（0.16-0.65））和立即食用准备好的餐食（AOR：0.39，95%CI：（0.19-0.81））与儿童腹泻的低风险显著相关。腹泻病是 Azezo 次市 5 岁以下儿童的常见健康问题。因此，建议通过健康教育实施适当的卫生干预计划，重点关注已确定的危险因素，以降低腹泻病负担。
