Socioeconomic, hygienic, and sanitation factors in reducing diarrhea in the Amazon

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To analyze the contributions of the socioeconomic, hygienic, and sanitation improvements in reducing the prevalence of diarrhea in a city of the Amazon.METHODS In this population-based cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from surveys conducted in the city of Jordão, Acre. In 2005 and 2012, these surveys evaluated, respectively, 466 and 826 children under five years old. Questionnaires were applied on the socioeconomic conditions, construction of houses, food and hygienic habits, and environmental sanitation. We applied Pearson’s Chi-squared test and Poisson regression to verify the relationship between origin of water, construction of homes, age of introduction of cow’s milk in the diet, place of birth and the prevalence of diarrhea.RESULTS The prevalence of diarrhea was reduced from 45.1% to 35.4%. We identified higher probability of diarrhea in children who did not use water from the public network, in those receiving cow’s milk in the first month after birth, and in those living in houses made of paxiúba. Children born at home presented lower risk of diarrhea when compared to those who were born in hospital, with this difference reversing for the 2012 survey.CONCLUSIONS Sanitation conditions improved with the increase of bathrooms with toilets, implementation of the Programa de Saúde da Família (PSF – Family Health Program), and water treatment in the city. The multivariate regression model identified a statistically significant association between use of water from the public network, construction of houses, late introduction of cow’s milk, and access to health service with occurrence of diarrhea.

Hospitalização e taxas de mortalidade por diarreia no Brasil: 2000-2015

“…Artigo originAl INTRODUÇÃO A diarreia pode ser categorizada sendo o aumento da frequência das defecações associado a diminuição da consistência, e com um aumento da massa fecal acima de 200 gramas. É considerada um dos sinais de patologias mais comuns da humanidade, com impacto social elevado, uma vez que é a terceira causa de óbito em crianças com menos de 5 anos de vida, sendo o seu manejo adequado fundamental para a diminuição da mortalidade infantil [1][2][3][4] .…”

“…Apesar da redução as diarreias continuam constituindo-se em grave problema de saúde pública nos países onde existem desigualdades na distribuição de riquezas. Essas desigualdades estão relacionadas a condições e estilo de vida, acesso e qualidade dos serviços de saúde e saneamento e o Brasil parece estar dentro deste panorama 2,4,14,15 .…”

Combination of conditional cash transfer program and environmental health interventions reduces child mortality: an ecological study of Brazilian municipalities

“…The multivariate model related to mortality due to diarrhea (Table 4) shows results that highlight the importance of high coverage of the target population by the PBF and adequate conditions of access to water, sanitation and solid waste collection in reducing mortality rates due to this disease. In relation to these determinants, studies indicate favorable results of access to conditional cash transfer programs (including PBF), directly reflecting on the improvement in the beneficiary family income and in better health and nutrition conditions [22,54,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]. Other studies point out how access/non-access to drinking water and sanitation has a strong impact on health and disease processes, whether in the outcomes related to infectious diseases, such as diarrhea, or in the nutritional status of the exposed population [10,37,61,[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83].…”

Relação água e doença: a importância dos aspectos socioculturais e de infraestrutura na saúde pública em Pão de Açucar, Alagoas

“…O mesmo se observou no entorno das habitações, os precários hábitos de limpeza resultam em ambientes sujos, especialmente nas periferias da cidade. Imada et al (2016), em trabalho realizado no município de Jordão/AC com alta prevalência de diarreias, também verificaram que uma parcela da população não tinha cuidado com a higiene das mãos antes do preparo dos alimentos, contribuindo para o risco de contaminação durante o preparo dos alimentos.…”