Jornal de Biometria e Bioestatística

Prevalence and factors of Diarrhea among under-five children in Ethiopia

Abstract

Yenew Alemu Mihret

Background: The World Health Organization defines diarrhea as the passage of three or loose, or watery stools within a day or unusual frequency of diarrhea episodes. The goal of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with diarrhea among children of age under-five in Ethiopia.

Methods: Association between outcome and independent variables was done using Pearson’s chi-square test. To control for possible confounding, binary logistic regression was applied and analyzed using Stata version 14. This was asystematic literature review. A systemic search of articles was done on PubMed, TRIP, EPPI COVID Living Map, Web of Science, and medRxiv databases until 2020 using the keywords “COVID-19”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “coronavirus”, “hydroxychloroquine”, and “mortality”. Relevant articles were chosen for further evaluation based on a review of their titles and abstracts. In vivo and in vitro studies were included assessing the safety and effectiveness of Azithromycin and 4-aminoquinline for treatment of COVID-19 pregnant mothers.

Results: Based on this study, the prevalence of diarrhea was 15.5% of children under the age of five. The expected value of the prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children from Amhara, Oromia, and Southern nations, nationalities, and people’s region was 0.47, 0.77 and 0.72 times lower than the occurrence of diarrhea among the ages of under-five children in Tigray, respectively, controlling for the other variables in the model. When we look at the source of drinking water, the odds of the prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children were 0.78 times lower than children taking protected water as compared to unprotected water. In addition, the odds of the prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children from a child's lives with others were 5.95 times higher than the prevalence of diarrhea for a child who lives with the respondents.

Conclusion: Region, child living with whom and source of water are the significant factor of the prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children.