Examining the spatial variations of co-morbidity among young children in Ethiopia

Addressing the issues of childhood comorbidity remains a crucial global public health issue due to its consequences in child wellbeing. This study aims to account for nonlinear, spatial effect and to evaluate spatial variation in childhood co-morbidity at cluster level while controlling for important risk factors.

Using the 2016 Ethiopia DHS data, a multinomial logistic model was assessed by linear, nonlinear and random effects. The study also employed a spatial analysis tool which is Getis-Ord to identify hotspot areas of child comorbidity at the cluster level. The model with fixed, nonlinear and spatial effects identified as the best model to identify risk factors related to the coexistence of childhood illnesses.

The results indicated that statistically significant high hotspots of comorbidity were found in Tigray and Oromia whereas low hotspots were found in Harari and Somali regions. Children between 10 and 15 months old were at high risk of co-morbidity in Ethiopia. Besides, our findings revealed that being male children, not-breastfed children, from households lack of toilet facility, children from households who use spring water, children born first, children from working mother, anemic children and children from uneducated mother are at high risk of multiple illnesses.

Comorbidity in childhood is not random in the country, with high hotspots of comorbidity in the regions of Tigray and Oromia. The results show a critical upshot for a combined morbidity control method for decreasing children's illnesses and death. The maps remain novel to design appropriate healthcare interventions at regional as well as cluster level. Regions with high hotspots of child comorbidity should be considered for health healthcare interventions.