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Diarrhoea among Children Under Five Years of Age Residing in a Village Development Committee: A Descriptive
Rimu Mishra1, Alok Acharya1, Amar Kumar Yadav1
1Department of Community Medicine, Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal.
Insights
Diarrhoea affects 43.82% of children under five in a Nepali village. This prevalence is higher than in similar studies, highlighting a significant public health concern for child survival.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Public Health
- Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Diarrhoea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in young children globally.
- Nepal faces significant challenges in reducing childhood mortality, with diarrhoea being a major contributor.
- Understanding the local prevalence of childhood diarrhoea is crucial for targeted public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of diarrhoea among children under five years of age in a specific Village Development Committee (VDC) in Nepal.
- To provide data that can inform strategies aimed at reducing childhood mortality in the region.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted involving 356 children under five years old.
- Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire between January and December 2018.
- Statistical analysis included point estimates with 95% Confidence Intervals, frequencies, proportions, and means with standard deviations.
Main Results:
- The prevalence of diarrhoea was found to be 43.82% (95% CI: 38.67-48.97) among the 356 children studied.
- Males constituted 55.12% and females 44.87% of the study population.
- The observed prevalence rate indicates a significant burden of diarrhoea in the study area.
Conclusions:
- The prevalence of diarrhoea in this Nepali VDC was higher compared to findings from similar studies in comparable settings.
- This higher prevalence underscores the urgent need for improved child health interventions, including hygiene and sanitation programs.
- Further research into contributing factors and effective interventions is warranted to combat childhood diarrhoea effectively.
Introduction:
Diarrhoea is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among young children. It is reported that a large number of under five-year children still die of diarrhoea in Nepal. Nepal is striving for reducing childhood mortality by two thirds. The aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of diarrhoea among children under five years of age in a village development committee.
Methods:
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study performed among 356 children below 5 years of age residing in the Village Development Committee between January, 2018 and December, 2018 after getting ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 209/2017). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the demographic data and other pertinent information. Convenience sampling was done. The data were entered into Microsoft Excel version 16.0 and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23.0. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data and mean with standard deviation for continuous data.
Results:
Out of 356 children less than five years of age, diarrhoea was prevalent in 156 (43.82%) (38.67-48.97 at 95% Confidence Interval). Eighty-six (55.12%) were males and 70 (44.87%) were females.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of diarrhoea in our study was higher when compared to similar studies conducted in similar settings.
Keywords:
children; hygiene; prevalence; sanitation; water.
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