title: Association of biomass fuel use with acute respiratory infections among under- five children in a slum urban of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Indoor air pollution from biomass fuel is responsible for 50,320 annual deaths of children under-five year, accounting for 4.9% of the national burden of disease in Ethiopia. Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of mortality among children in Ethiopia. There is limited research that has examined the association between the use of biomass fuel and acute respiratory infections among children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community based cross-sectional study was conducted during January to February 2012 among 422 households in the slum of Addis Ababa. Data were collected by using structured and pretested questionnaire. Odds ratio was done to determine association between independent variables and acute respiratory infections by using logistic regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the presence of an association between biomass fuel use and acute respiratory infections after controlling for other confounding variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly 253 (60%) of children live in households that predominately used biomass fuel. The two weeks prevalence of acute respiratory infection was 23.9%. The odds ratios of acute respiratory infection were 2.97 (95% CI: 1.38-3.87) and 1.96 (95% CI: 0.78-4.89) in households using biomass fuel and kerosene, respectively, relative to cleaner fuels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is an association between biomass fuel usage and acute respiratory infection in children. The relationship needs investigation which measure indoor air pollution and clinical measures of acute respiratory infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Environmental Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia. habtish217@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Habtamu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sanbata
authors.forename: Araya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asfaw
authors.forename: Abera
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumie
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018533:Biomass; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires