INTRODUCTION Diarrhea is responsible for the death of more than 90% of under-five children in low and lower-middle income countries. Regionally, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 88% of deaths with the same age group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among children under-five years in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS The appended, most recent demographic and health survey datasets of 34 sub-Saharan African countries were used to determine the prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among under-five children in the region. A total weighted sample of 330,866 under-five children were included in the study. Both bivariable and multivariable multilevel logistic regression were done to determine the associated factors of diarrhea among under five children in sub-Saharan Africa. The Odds Ratio (OR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was calculated for those potential factors included in the final model. RESULT The overall prevalence of diarrhea in this study was 15.3% (95% CI: 15.1-15.4). Those children of mothers aged 15-24 (AOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.30) and 25-34 years (AOR = 1.15; 95%CI: 1.12, 1.18), those children of mothers with no education (AOR = 1.69; 95%CI: 1.57-1.82), primary education (AOR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.61-1.86) and secondary education (AOR = 1.49; 95%CI: 1.38-1.59) had higher odds of having diarrhea. Those children from poorest (AOR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.10, 1.19), poorer (AOR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.08-1.17), middle (AOR = 1.06; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.10), and richer (AOR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.04-1.12) households had higher chance of having diarrhea compared to their counterparts. CONCLUSION This study found that the prevalence of childhood diarrhea morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa was high. Maternal age, wealth index, maternal education, maternal occupation, age of child, time of initiation of breast feeding and time to get water source were significantly associated with diarrhea. Therefore, intervention through health education and health promotion for mothers/caretakers who are poor, less educated, and young should be designed to prevent diarrhea in the region.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲五岁以下儿童的腹泻及相关因素：来自 34 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家人口和健康调查的证据。


简介 在低收入和中低收入国家，腹泻是造成 90% 以上五岁以下儿童死亡的原因。从地区来看，南亚和撒哈拉以南非洲地区的同年龄组死亡人数占 88%。因此，本研究的目的是确定撒哈拉以南非洲五岁以下儿童腹泻的患病率和相关因素。方法 使用所附的 34 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的最新人口和健康调查数据集来确定该地区 5 岁以下儿童腹泻的患病率和相关因素。该研究共纳入了 330,866 名五岁以下儿童的加权样本。采用双变量和多变量多级逻辑回归来确定撒哈拉以南非洲五岁以下儿童腹泻的相关因素。针对最终模型中包含的那些潜在因素计算了具有 95% 置信区间 (CI) 的优势比 (OR)。结果 本研究中腹泻的总体患病率为 15.3%（95% CI：15.1-15.4）。 15-24 岁（AOR = 1.26；95% CI：1.23，1.30）和 25-34 岁（AOR = 1.15；95% CI：1.12，1.18）母亲的孩子，未受过教育的母亲的孩子（AOR = 1.69；95%CI：1.57-1.82）、小学教育（AOR = 1.73；95%CI：1.61-1.86）和中学教育（AOR = 1.49；95%CI：1.38-1.59）腹泻的几率较高。那些来自最贫困（AOR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.10, 1.19）、较贫困（AOR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.08-1.17）、中等（AOR = 1.06; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.10）和较富裕的儿童（AOR = 1.14；95%CI：1.04-1.12）与其他家庭相比，家庭患腹泻的几率更高。结论 这项研究发现撒哈拉以南非洲地区儿童腹泻发病率很高。 母亲年龄、财富指数、母亲受教育程度、母亲职业、孩子年龄、开始母乳喂养时间和获得水源时间与腹泻显着相关。因此，应通过健康教育和健康促进对贫困、受教育程度较低和年轻人的母亲/看护者进行干预，以预防该地区的腹泻。