Childhood Diarrhea Determinants in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross Sectional Study of Tiko-Cameroon

Introduction: Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five years globally. Nearly one in five child deaths, about 1.5 million each year, are due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), malaria and measles combined. World Health Organization has accordingly underlined the need for epidemiological surveys of infantile diarrhea in all geographical areas. The main research objectives were to estimate the prevalence of diarrhea and identify factors associated with diarrheal diseases in Tiko city in Cameroon. Method: The present study was a cross-sectional community household survey which was conducted in Tiko town from 1st to 31st of August 2012. With the use of a questionnaire, a total of 602 households that had at least one child under five years of age were interviewed. Mothers/caregivers were questioned on the morbidity of diarrhea and the logistic regression model was employed to examine the determinants of childhood diarrhea. Both univariable and multivariable data analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: The results of this study showed that the prevalence of diarrhea was 23.8% and children under 24 months were highly affected. We found children using the main toilet and other types of toilet facilities such as bushes, diaper, and streams (OR: 0.194; p < 0.001, 95% CI) and usage of narrow-mouth container for storage of drinking water (OR: 0.492; p < 0.001, 95% CI) less likely to suffer from diarrhea. In contrast, higher rates of diarrhea prevalence were seen in children from households with two or more siblings (OR: 1.222; p < 0.001, 95% CI) and whose mothers/caregivers never had the knowledge of safe sources of drinking water (OR: 1.849; p < 0.01, 95% CI). Conclusion: Childhood diarrhea is a public health problem in Tiko city. Hence, interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence should take into consideration the integration of family planning activities in the prevention of childhood diarrhea and the deployed of health personals to educate the community to adopt a hygienic behavior. Future research on the topic should be qualitative inquiry to complement the quantitative nature of this study