| dc.description.abstract | The severity of diarrhea causes dehydration and this has been attributed as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among children under five years . However , despite the numerous interventions to halt it, diarrhea has persistently prevailed in many communities in sub-Saharan Africa , and Uganda being our area of focus in this study. This has especially been true for poor rural community like otuboi sub county where poor means of excreta disposal played a great role in heightening the prevalence of childhood diarrheal diseases. This study therefore sought to determine the prevalence of diarrhea and socio-economic, environmental , and behavioral risk factors among children under-five years in Otuboi sub county.
A community based cross-sectional study was carried out ; enrolling a total of 272 mothers / caretakers of children under-five years living in Otuboi sub county , kaberamaido district data collected include socio-economic characteristics, households environmental characteristics, behavioral characteristics and information on diarrhea episodes during the study period using interview administered semi-structured questionnaire. The overall childhood diarrhea prevalence was 42.65%. diarrhea with blood accounting for 27.59% while diarrhea with no blood accounted for 72.41% chi-square statistical test was employed using statistical package for social scientist (SPSS) program and variable such as number of children in the households, luck of access to safe water poor excreta disposal, poor refuse disposal, poor infant feeding practices and poor personal hygiene show a statistical significant association with childhood diarrhea prevalence (p<0.05). Variable such as age of the child, house hold income, maternal age, mother's education, measles immunization and health seeking behavior showed no statistical association with child hood diarrhea prevalence in this study.
In conclusion, the study depict the importance of collective interaction of socio-economic, environmental, and behavioral factors in influencing the prevalence of childhood diarrhea. Additionally, efforts to empower the community about proper excreta disposal, refuse disposal, infant feeding practices, personal hygiene, water source protection and family planning uptake should be major components in diarrhea control strategy. Furthermore studies should be conducted to identify the risk factors of diarrhea in rural communities for proper interventions. | en_US |
