Factors influencing childhood diarrhoeal diseases among under-five years children in Kanyanda, Luwero District.

Abstract

Background Diarrhea remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years old worldwide. The burden is disproportionately high among children in low- and middle-income countries. Young children are especially vulnerable to diarrheal disease and a high proportion of the deaths occur in the first 2 years of life. Objective The aim of the study was to access factors influencing diarrheal diseases among under-five children in Kanyanda, Luwero District Method A descriptive cross sectional study was employed to assess the factors influencing diarrheal diseases among under-five children in Kanyanda, Luwero District. A total of 279 care takers/mothers of children under-five years were included in this study using non probability, convenient sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results From the assessment done the prevalence of childhood diarrhea disease was high at 47.7%. age of the child (P=0.00), place where the child was born (P=0.044), duration of breastfeeding (P=0.00), immunization status (P=0.00), maternal age (P=0.00), number of children in the household (P=0.00), maternal education (P=0.00), maternal employment (P=0.02), type of toilets (P=0.00), adult defecation (P=0.00), presence of flies in the kitchen (P=0.00) and domestic animals near house (P=0.00) were independently associate with occurrence of childhood diarrhea. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for going educational, informational and improving on the socio-economic status, sanitation interventions of the respondents to address the factors of childhood diarrhea diseases in order to decrease the rate of childhood diseases among children below five years.