Prevalence of Diarrhoea and Associated Factors among Under-Five Children in Jigjiga District, Somali Region, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Diarrheal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children in many developing countries, including Ethiopia and is a leading cause of morbidity in Pastoralist Ethiopian-Somali region. Diarrheal disease is not purely medical, but huge part of this should be traced back to the social, economic, environmental and behavioural aspects of the family. Determining these interactions is relevant to prevent and control diarrhoea. Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of diarrhoea and describe associated factors relating to diarrheal disease among under-five children in Jigjiga district. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jigjiga district from June 12 to 26 in 2014 using a structured and pretested questionnaire. A total of 1807 primary care takers were interviewed. Proportionate to size allocation was done and simple random selection was used to select sample units. Diarrheal morbidity occurred in the under-five children in the past 14 days were registered to determine prevalence. Data were entered using Epi Info version 3.5.3 and analysed in SPSS version 20. Odds ratio with 95% CI in a multivariate logistic regression was employed to control confounding factors. Results: The findings of this study showed that the overall two-week period prevalence of diarrhoea in under-five children was 27.3%: 95% CI (26.9%, 27.4%). Education of the primary caretaker, occupation of the father, birth order of the child, maternal diarrhoea, and hand washing during critical times, water source, type of water storage container, latrine availability, frequency of household solid waste water disposal, availability of liquid waste water drainage system and the type of the kitchen floor material showed as independent predictors of under-five child hood diarrhoea. Conclusion: This study revealed that diarrhoea morbidity was relatively high among children under-five years of age residing in Somali region. Efforts to reduce childhood diarrhoea should focus mainly on water, sanitation and hygiene interventions including health education.