Prevalence and Health Care–Seeking Behavior for Childhood Diarrheal Disease in Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh, the burden of diarrheal diseases is significant among children <5 years old. The objective of this study is to capture the prevalence of and health care–seeking behavior for childhood diarrheal diseases (CDDs) and to identify the factors associated with CDDs at a population level in Bangladesh. We use a logistic regression approach to model careseeking based on individual characteristics. The overall diarrhea prevalence among children <5 years old was found to be 5.71%. Some factors found to significantly influence the health care–seeking pattern were age and sex of the children, nutritional score, age and education of mothers, wealth index, and access to electronic media. The health care service could be improved through working in partnership with public facilities, private health care practitioners, and community-based organizations, so that all strata of the population get equitable access in cases of childhood diarrhoea.

Socio-demographic and environmental factors of diarrhea among under-five children in India

“…For instance, women's secondary or higher level of education was associated with 9% reduced likelihood of diarrhea in children as compared to those who had no education or primary level of education. A similar nding is also reported in other studies conducted in Bangladesh [9] and different parts of Ethiopia [8,11,14]. This could be explained by hygiene practices, child feeding and caring practices, and improved living conditions of an educated mother [14].…”

“…Female children were found to have 8% reduced risk of diarrhea than male children. A study conducted in Bangladesh also revealed that male children had higher odds of diarrhea than female children [9]. A similar nding is also reported in a study carried out in rural parts of western Maharashtra [27].…”

“…The present study revealed that the likelihood of diarrhea was reduced by 26% in children from the richest wealth quintile as compared to those from the poorest wealth quintile. A similar nding is also found in earlier studies conducted in India [13] and other developing countries [9,23]. Wealth quintile variable was excluded from the multivariate analysis since household wealth was measured from a range of consumer items, drinking water and sanitation facilities including dwelling characteristics.…”

“…Likewise, a study carried out in Jamma district of Ethiopia found that the likelihood of developing diarrhea was more than twice among children aged 6 to 23 months as compared to children aged two years or above [17]. A similar nding is also found in a study done in Bangladesh [9]. This is because, in the infant age, children are exposed to different contaminated agents leading to infectious diseases while crawling and walking [14].…”

“…Many socio-demographic, environmental and behavioral factors are responsible for the occurrence of diarrheal disease among under-ve children. Important socio-demographic factors include child's age, place of residence, maternal education and the household economic condition [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Environmental factors such as drinking water, sanitation facilities, waste disposal and dwelling characteristics are associated with childhood diarrhea [11-13, 16, 17].…”