Genet Gedamu, Abera Kumie, Desta Haftu
Background: Diarrheal diseases are still the leading causes of under-five morbidity and mortality in sub Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. The discrepancy in the effects of different factors on the prevalence of diarrhea indicates the variation in the implementation of diarrhea prevention strategies with the context of the population from place to place and needs locality based studies. So this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors with diarrhea among under five children in Farta Wereda, North west Ethiopia.
Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in March, 2014 on 1007 mothers of under five children living in the randomly selected 10 rural and 1 urban kebeles. Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Bivariate logistic regression analysis to see the association between dependent and independent variables and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the independent determinant factors of diarrhea was performed.
Results: The response rate of this study was 99%. More than two fifth of households (41.2%) used drinking water from unimproved sources. About 595 (59.6%) households had latrine facility, of which 583 (98%) were unimproved type and 578 (97.1%) had no hand washing facility. The overall diarrhea prevalence was 16.7% (95% CI: 15.52, 17.78). Children from rural areas [AOR: 2.58, 95% CI: (1.08, 6.18)], whose mother took 30 and more minutes for getting drinking water [AOR: 1.65, 95% CI: (1.01, 2.68)] ,whose age between 6-11 [AOR: 3.1, 95% CI: (1.16, 8.15)], not vaccinated for Rotavirus [AOR: 1.75, 95% CI: (1.11, 2.77)] ,from households having latrine facility [AOR: 0.62, 95%CI: (0.43, 0.89)] and whose mothers used only water to wash their hands [AOR: 1.6, 95% CI: (1.08, 2.28)] were more likely to have diarrhea.
Conclusion: The prevalence of diarrhea in Farta Wereda needs an integrated public action. Thus efforts to reduce childhood diarrhea should focus on strengthening of expanding of access to drinking water sources, education of women on hygiene promotion and child feeding practice as well as expanding access to Rotavirus vaccination for all age groups of under five children.
