Prevalence & Determinants of Diarrheal Diseases Among Children Under Five Years Attending Kiryandongo General Hospital.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Globally diarrhea kills 2,195 children every day—more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. That is like losing nearly 32 school buses full of children each day! 1 in 9 child deaths are due to diarrhea, making 801, 000 child deaths from diarrhea every year. This makes diarrhea the second leading cause of death among the under-fives. Despite this positive trend seen globally resulting from socio-economic development and implementation of child survival interventions, in Africa the state of affairs is still worrisome. The average child in developing countries experiences three or more episodes of the diarrheal disease each year, accounting for up to 4 billion cases annually. Objective: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among children under the age of five years attending Kiryandongo General Hospital (KGH). Method: A descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional study design was used that involved 135 under-fives with the diagnosis of diarrhea. Results: The prevalence of under-five diarrhea was 7.45%. The significant factors were age, sex, and breastfeeding history of the under-five. Others were the number of children, the number of children below the age of five, the education and occupation status of the mother, and water and sanitation. The age of the mother was found to be insignificant. Conclusion: The prevalence of diarrhea in under-fives was 7.45%, a value lower than previous statistics with evidence of a significant decline in diarrhea-related hospitalizations and death. Factors found significant in diarrhea among under-fives included age between 1 and 2 years, male sex, poor adherence to exclusive breastfeeding, 3 or more children in a family with more than 2 children being below five years, low education status and lack of employment of primary caretaker. Environmental factors included unsafe, unprotected drinking water sources and poor treatment measures for drinking water. The age of the mother was found to have no statistically significant association