Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Diarrhoea Incidence among Children Under Five Years in Ghana

Abstract

Inadequate access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are some of the major risk factors associated with diarrhoea incidence among children under five years. The study explored the relationship between household WASH conditions and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana using data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). A sample of 5965 children under five years was used in this study. An index was developed to measure households’ drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. The data were analysed at three levels. Univariate analysis was used to provide descriptive statistics on household WASH conditions and describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the study sample. The bivariate level of analysis examined the association between the independent and dependent variables as well as the controlled variables. Multivariate analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression since the dependent variable (child had diarrhoea) was coded as a dichotomous variable with yes and no response options. The findings revealed that 11.8% of the children experienced episodes of diarrhoea two weeks prior to the survey. Also, there was a significant association between sanitation, wealth quintile, sex of child, age of child, mothers’ educational level, and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana. At the multivariate level, the results indicate that having unimproved sanitation significantly increases the likelihood of a child contracting diarrhoea. The study recommends that stakeholders should continue to encourage and promote the building and usage of improved toilet facilities in households to enhance sanitation at the household level.