Impact of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Components on Under-5 Children's Mortality in Ethiopia: A Comparative Analysis of Count Regression Models

Abstract

Objectives To investigates the effect of WASH components on under 5 children mortality and Compare the performance of count advanced count regression models. Design In this study, data on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Components on Under-5 Children's Mortality in Ethiopia participating in the Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey conducted at 2019. The cross-sectional study design was used to study the Demographic and Health data from 11 different regions of Ethiopia. R programming has been used to analyse descriptive and inferential statistics. The baseline Poisson regression model exhibited overdispersion, leading to the exploration of various count regression models. The Negative Binomial regression model emerged as the best fit for the data, displaying low Akaike Information Criterion (AI) values. Setting Women of reproductive Age 15-49 with Under-Five children were interviewed. Participants A total of 5753 women of reproductive Age 15-49 with Under-Five children were interviewed. Primary Outcome Measure The number of under-5 children death, that is count variable. Results The study reveals Significant factors influencing under 5 children's mortality were identified, including rural residence, inadequate toilet facilities, reliance on unsafe water sources, household access to radios, and household composition. Conclusion Children living in rural areas faced a significantly higher risk of mortality compared to urban counterparts. Furthermore, households lacking proper sanitation facilities or using unsafe water sources exhibited elevated mortality rates among under-5-year-olds. Conversely, households with radios showed a lower risk of under-5-year-old child deaths. The number of children in a household under the age of five and female-headed households were associated with lower mortality rates.