Risk Factors Associated with Multimorbidity among Children Aged Under-Five Years in Sub-Saharan African Countries: A
Phillips Edomwonyi Obasohan1,2, Stephen J Walters1, Richard Jacques1
1School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4AD, UK.
Insights
Childhood multimorbidity affects over 33% globally. This review found limited studies on factors associated with multimorbidity in children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting a knowledge gap.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Public Health
- Global Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood multimorbidity, the co-occurrence of two or more diseases, affects over 33% globally.
- This condition is a growing public health concern in Low- and Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs), particularly impacting children's health.
- Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces significant challenges with childhood multimorbidity in children under five years.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a scoping review to identify and describe studies on childhood multimorbidity in SSA.
- To investigate the association between socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental factors and multimorbidity prevalence in children under five in SSA.
Main Methods:
- Searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for English-language papers published between January 1990 and March 2022.
- Included studies focused on children under five with multimorbidity in SSA, utilizing classical regression analysis.
- Extracted data from six selected articles out of 261 identified and 66 full-text reviewed papers.
Main Results:
- Six studies were included, with sample sizes ranging from 2,343 to 193,065 children under five.
- Analyzed conditions included pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, overweight, stunting, and anemia.
- Prevalence of multimorbidity in the included studies ranged from 1.2% to 24.8%.
Conclusions:
- A significant evidence deficit/knowledge gap exists regarding childhood multimorbidity in SSA.
- Further research is needed to inform policymakers on integrated care strategies for children with multimorbidity in SSA.
Background/Purpose:
Globally, the prevalence of multimorbidity (defined as the cooccurrence of two or more diseases in an individual without reference to an index disease) is greater than 33%. Consequently, childhood multimorbidity, a growing public health concern in Low- and Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs), frequently has an impact on children's health. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to locate and describe studies that investigate the association between socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental factors and the prevalence of multimorbidity among children aged under five years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Methods/Design:
We searched MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for papers written in English, and published between January 1990 and March 2022. The search included papers that focused on children aged under five years with multimorbidity from Sub-Saharan Africa and used classical regression methods in their analysis.
Results:
A total of 261 articles were identified. Out of the 66 articles selected for full-text reading, 60 were removed for various reasons. Therefore, data from a sample of six articles were finally extracted and reported in this study. The sample size for the 6 studies included ranged from 2343 to 193,065 children under five years of age. There were six distinct disease conditions (Pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, being overweight, stunting, and anaemia) analysed in the included studies. One of the studies had three concurrent diseases, while the other five studies had two current diseases as their multimorbidity outcome of interest. The prevalence of multimorbidity in these six studies ranged from 1.2% to 24.8%.
Conclusions:
The relatively few studies found in this research area is an indication of an evidence deficit/knowledge gap yearning to be filled to help policymakers in coming up with integrated multimorbidity care for children in SSA.
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