Water And Sanitation And Diarrhoea In Children Under-Five Years Old In Asuogyaman District

ABSTRACT Background- The promotion of sanitation and hygiene as well as potable water supply has emerged as one of the cost-effective possible interventions against high burden diseases like diarrhoea in developing countries. Diarrhoea cases among diseases reported at the Outpatient department attendances has been increasing for the past few years in health facilities in Asuogyaman district. The aim of this study was to determine environmental risk factors for diarrhoea in children under-five years in Asuogyaman district, with special emphasis on water supply, sanitation facilities and hand washing. Methods- This study was a household based cross-sectional study, consisting of 400 mother/caregiver-child pairs (where the children were between 0 to 59 months of age) residing in Asuogyaman District. Data collection tools used were structured questionnaires and an observation check list. Information concerning the prevalence of diarrhoea in the child under-five years was obtained from the mothers over a two-weeks recall. Data on the background of the study population, sanitation facilities used by household, the practice of hand washing with soap and water by mothers, the sources of household water supply, treatment of drinking water, storage of household drinking water as well as the knowledge of mothers about causes of diarrhoea were obtained and analysed. The crude estimate of odds ratio was determined for each potential factor of diarrhoea using simple logistic regression techniques. The adjusted odds ratios were determined using a multivalent logistic regression technique. Only variables that were significantly associated with diarrhoea were considered in the multivariable logistic regression model and tested in turn using likelihood ratio test. Statistical analysis was done using stata for windows ( stata corp, college station Texas.)