title: Prevalence and determinants of acute diarrhea among children younger than five years old in Jabithennan District, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.
abstract: Despite the global decline in death rates of children younger than five years old, the risk of a child dying before turning five years of age remains highest in the WHO African Region. The problem of child death in Ethiopia is worse, with an Ethiopian child being 30 times more likely to die by his/her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with diarrhea among children younger than five years old.
  
  
  
  A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted with mothers who had children younger than five years old from April to June 2014. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select eligible women. The data were coded, entered, cleaned and analyzed with the SPSS software package, version 16.
  
  
  
  he data of 775 mothers were included in the analysis, and 21.5% of the children had diarrhea in the two weeks before the survey. The main factors affecting the occurrence of diarrhea were residence (Odds ratio (AOR) = 11.29, 95% Confidence interval (CI): 3.49-36.52), sex (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI:1.28-4.93), methods of complementary feeding (AOR = 50.88, 95% CI: 23.85- 108.54), types of water storage equipment (AOR = 19.50, 95% CI: 8.11-46.90), and cleansing materials used to wash hands (AOR = 5.53, 95% CI: 2.19-13.99).
  
  
  
  Approximately one-fifth of the children included in the study reported diarrheal disease. Residence, sex of the child, type of water storage container, methods of complementary feeding, and cleansing materials to wash the hands were the most important variables that affected the occurrence of diarrhea in children. Therefore, families, the government and nongovernmental organizations working in the area must cooperate in interventions and prevention to minimize the risk of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. kzolam@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zelalem Alamrew
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Anteneh
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, GAMBY College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Kassawmar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andargie
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Project Unit, Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Molalign
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tarekegn
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D060766:Drinking Water; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water
keywords: Children younger than five years old; Diarrheal Disease; Jabithennan District