Effectiveness of WASH Education to Prevent Diarrhea among Children under five in a Community of Patuakhali, Bangladesh

Abstract

Diarrhea is a leading cause of death among under five children in developing countries. The burden of child diarrhea in Bangladesh is still significant. Safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) can limit the events. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of WASH education of mothers or caregivers on child diarrhea. A community-based randomized control trial was conducted in the selected households of a rural community in Dumki Upazila, Patuakhali from March-June 2019. A total of 202 mothers/caregivers received intervention and 202 did not receive intervention. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to gather information on household WASH activities and diarrheal cases. Baseline data were collected first from the intervention group before providing education. WASH messages were given to the intervention group by face-to-face discussion. Both groups were followed up for diarrheal episodes for 3 months. Diarrheal prevalence of intervening group is compared with that of baseline and control. The results revealed that diarrheal prevalence was 11.4% (95% CI: 7.4-16.59%), 4.0% (95% CI: 1.7-7.65%), and 14.9% (95% CI: 10.25-20.52%) in baseline, intervention, and control group, respectively. Also, diarrhea was found lower in the intervention group than baseline (Z = − 2.524; P value = 0.012) and control (Z = − 1.85; P value = 0.04). WASH interventions were found effective to reduce the diarrheal episodes among under five children in rural community. Further investigation is necessary to assess the long-term effect of such intervention in other similar settings.

Prevalence of and factors associated with childhood diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infection in Bangladesh: an analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional survey

“…This is consistent with previous studies from Bangladesh17 that also found similar findings in relation to the regional differences in the prevalence of ARI and CDD. Begum and her colleagues also reported a higher diarrhoeal prevalence among children aged below 5 years in the similar setting and found that water, sanitation and hygiene education to the mothers was effective to reduce the burden of diarrhoea 38. According to Sarker et al 17 regions like Barisal are densely populated and is also characterised by the existence of more rivers and water reservoirs that create an enabling environment for diarrhoeal disease to spread among the population.…”

Prevalence and factors associated with childhood diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infection in Bangladesh: An analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional survey

“…This is consistent with previous studies from Bangladesh [17] that also found similar ndings in relation to the regional differences in the prevalence of ARI and CDD. Begum and her colleagues also reported a higher diarrheal prevalence among children < 5 years old in the similar setting and found that water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education to the mothers was effective to reduce the burden of diarrhea [37]. According to Sarker et al [17], regions like Barisal are densely populated and is also characterized by the existence of more rivers and water reservoirs that create an enabling environment for diarrheal disease to spread among the population.…”

Status and utilization of child health and nutritional services among low-income urban households in Bangladesh

“…Researchers studied urban households' water-supply quality and in-house disinfection use [e.g. chlorine products and filters] found the prevalence of 42.2% diarrhoea among the users (Chowdhury et al 2015;Pickering et al 2019;Begum et al 2020). Sultana et al (2019) identified ARS in 5.42% of underfive children and Chowdhury et al (2020a, b) found 68% ARS-related morbidity in urban hospitals and a high ARS-related mortality rate in malnourished children.…”