Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Source Publication
International Health
Source ISSN
1876-3405
Abstract
Background Diarrhoea and pneumonia are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children aged < 5 y (under five) globally. This study sought to investigate the prevalence and determinants of diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among children under five in West Africa. Methods The most recent demographic and health survey (DHS) standard for 13 West African countries was used in the study. We calculated the prevalence of diarrhoea and ARIs (2 wk prior to the survey) and performed multivariable complex logistic regression analysis to identify possible predictors of diarrhoea and ARIs. Results The weighted prevalence of diarrhoea and ARI was 13.7% and 15.9%, respectively. The prevalence of comorbid diarrhoea and ARI was 4.4%. Children aged < 2 y (p< 0.001), mothers aged < 30 y (p< 0.003), mothers without formal education (p< 0.001), poor households (p< 0.001) and poor nutritional status, wasting (p=0.005) and underweight (p< 0.001), were the independent predictors of diarrhoea. The independent predictors of ARIs were children with no childhood vaccinations (p=0.002), use of solid fuel in the household (p=0.007), being underweight (p=0.05) and diarrhoea (p< 0.001). Conclusions The findings imply the need for holistic public health interventions such as increased vaccination coverage, population-based nutritional programmes and campaigns on the use of cleaner cooking fuel targeted at high-risk subgroups in the population to reduce the burden and adverse effects of diarrhoea and ARIs in the West African region.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Owusu, Derrick Nyantakyi; Duah, Henry Ofori; Dwomoh, Duah; and Alhassan, Yakubu, "Prevalence and Determinants of Diarrhoea and Acute Respiratory Infections Among Children Aged Under Five Years in West Africa: Evidence From Demographic and Health Surveys" (2024). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 1221.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/1221
Comments
Published version. International Health, Vol. 16, No. 1 (2024): 96-106. DOI. © 2024 the Authors, published by Oxford University Press. Used with permission.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You are not required to obtain permission to reuse this article.
Henry Duah was affiliated with University of Cincinnati at the time of publication.