Determinants of child survival practice among caregivers in internally displaced persons' camps in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundChild survival remains a major public health challenge in the sub‐Saharan region of Africa, especially Nigeria. The Boko Haram crisis, which has aggravated this, has led to the displacement of many people in the north‐eastern region, including children under five. This study investigated the determinants of child survival practice among caregivers in internally displaced persons' (IDP) camps in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Nigeria.MethodologyA cross‐sectional design was used to collect data on determinants of child survival practice from 312 caregivers in five purposively selected IDP camps in AMAC using the snowball sampling technique. Data were analysed using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics at 5% level of significance.ResultsThe mean age of respondents was 29.6 ± 6.72 years. There was a significant (p < 0.05) relationship between the predisposing, reinforcing, enabling and environmental factors studied and child survival practice. Findings also indicated that all factors were significant (p < 0.05) predictors of child survival practice with the reinforcing factor being the major predictor (ß = 0.38; t = 6.08).ConclusionAttention needs to be paid to all factors, particularly the reinforcing factor of social support in order to promote optimal child survival practice among caregivers in AMAC IDP camps. Collaboration with social work professionals would be an added benefit to enhance social support.