Prevalence And Determinants Of Diarrhea And Acute Respiratory Infection Among Children Under Five In West Africa: Evidence From The Demographic And Health Survey

Abstract

Introduction: Diarrhoea and Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) account for 29–30% of all infant mortality worldwide, killing over two million children each year. Diarrhoea and ARI are predicted to kill more children under the age of five than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. Children in Africa's sub-regions are 15 times more likely to die from diarrheal disease and ARI than children in high-income countries. Objectives: The main objective of the study was to examine the prevalence and determinants of diarrhea and ARI among children under 5 years in West Africa. Methods: The study used data from the most recent nationally representative cross-sectional Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of thirteen (13) West African countries. Data cleaning, merging, and analysis were done using Stata software version 16. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the determinates of diarrhoea and ARI among children under five years in West African sub-region. 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%. The highest burden of diarrhoea and ARI was found in Gambia (19.7%) and Togo (27.9%), respectively. Children under two years old (p<0.001), mothers age (<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 ARI were children with no childhood vaccinations (p=0.002), use of solid fuel in households (p=0.007), underweight (p=0.05) and diarrhoea (p<0.001). Conclusion: The findings imply the need for holistic public health interventions that target the high risk subgroups in the population to reduce the burden and adverse effects of diarrhoea and ARI in the west African region.