Prevalence of diarrhoea and risk factors among children under five years old in Mbour, Senegal: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundDiarrhoeal diseases remain an important cause of mortality and morbidity among children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Senegal, diarrhoea is responsible for 15% of all deaths in children under the age of five and is the third leading cause of childhood deaths. For targeted planning and implementation of prevention strategies, a context-specific understanding of the determinants of diarrhoeal diseases is needed. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors of diarrhoeal diseases in children under the age of five in Mbour, Senegal.MethodsBetween February and March 2014, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in four zones of Mbour to estimate the burden of diarrhoeal diseases (i.e. diarrhoea episodes in the 2 weeks preceding the survey) and associated risk factors. The zones covered urban central, peri-central, north peripheral and south peripheral areas. Overall, 596 households were surveyed by a questionnaire, yielding information on sociodemographic, environmental and hygiene behavioural factors. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with the occurrence of diarrhoea.ResultsThe reported prevalence of diarrhoea among children under the age of five during the 2 weeks preceding the survey was 26%. Without adjustment, the highest diarrhoea prevalence rates were observed in the peri-central (44.8%) and urban central zones (36.3%). Multivariable regression revealed significant associations between diarrhoeal diseases and unemployment of mothers (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18–2.23), use of open bags for storing household waste (aOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.00–3.02), evacuation of household waste in public streets (aOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.20–3.55), no treatment of stored drinking water (aOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.11–2.56) and use of shared toilets (aOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.11–2.56).ConclusionWe found a high prevalence of diarrhoea in children under the age of five in Mbour, with the highest prevalence occurring in the central and peri-central areas. These findings underscore the need for public health interventions to alleviate the burden of diarrhoea among vulnerable groups. Promotion of solid waste disposal and reduction of wastewater exposure should be implemented without delay.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40249-017-0323-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

High common childhood illnesses while treatment seeking behavior of mothers’/care givers’ was low at rural northwest Ethiopia

“…Similarly, the result of this study noted lower prevalence of childhood illness compared to some studies conducted elsewhere (9,11,13,16). There could be several explanations for the differences in prevalence of the illnesses with this findings and across literatures.…”

Socio-demographic determinants of health-care seeking options and alternative management practices of childhood diarrhoeal illness: A household survey among mothers in Iraq

“…In the multivariate analyses (Table 2) water, versus households utilizing reverse osmosis water, in Thi-Qar [37]. A community crosssectional study in Mbour, Senegal by Thiam et al [38] observed children living in better-off families were less likely to have diarrhoea compared to their lower income counterparts. Our results are in line with several household studies on diarrheic children that have demonstrated that the wealth status of the family is correlated with better access to household amenities, including those related to better hygiene and environmental health, which likely reduce the risk of diarrhoea [39,40].…”

“…These results are in agreement with what was reported from studies conducted in neighboring countries such as Turkey [40], Iran [33] and Jordan [27], where children belonging to mothers with a higher education level (university or diploma) were less likely to have diarrhoea compared to those whose mothers had a lower level education (primary or secondary) or were illiterate. This finding might indicate that those mothers who have a higher education level are attaining more awareness on good child feeding practices, hygiene behaviors and safe handling of water which in turn are important factors for reducing the risks associated with childhood diarrhoea [21,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. In addition to mothers' education level, the present study observed that the reported occurrence of diarrhoea is likely to be less in children belonging to mothers aged >25 years compared to mothers aged ≤25 years.…”

Phytochemical Profile and Investigation of the Spasmolytic Activity of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Seeds

“…Diarrhea is a major public health problem worldwide, being one of the major causes of infant morbidity and mortality, representing the second leading cause of death in children under five years of age [59]. About a third of children living in developing countries, where unfavorable hygienic-sanitary conditions facilitate the spread of pathogens, are affected by enteric infections with or without diarrheal events [60].…”