ArticlePloS one2021
Diarrhea and associated factors among under five children in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from demographic and health surveys of 34 sub-Saharan countries.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global childhood diarrhoea prevalence and its determinants: a systematic meta-analytic assessment, 1985-2024.EBioMedicine · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of diarrheal disease and its determinants among children under five in East Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and risk factors of diarrhea among under-five children in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of diarrheal diseases and associated factors among under five children in Africa: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Burden of Childhood Diarrhea and Its Associated Factors in Ethiopia: A Review of Observational Studies.International journal of public health · 2024Pooled it
- A sustainable house design to improve child health in rural Africa: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.Nature medicine · 2026Trial
- Missing data practices in DHS-based child health research in sub-Saharan Africa: a methodological review of diarrhea and acute respiratory infection studies.Global health action · 2026Review
- Regional disparities and predictors of childhood diarrhea in Ethiopia: a multilevel logistic regression analysis.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Co-Occurrence of Malaria, Pneumonia, and Diarrheal Disease Among Households: A Cohort Study in Rural Western Uganda.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Article
- Time-Series Analysis and Age-Stratified Forecasting of Diarrheal Disease in Rwanda Using SARIMA Models.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Article
- Determinants of diarrhea and acute respiratory infection among under-five children in urban-rural Somalia: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Mapping spatial hotspots and location specific associated factor of diarrhea-wasting multimorbidity among children aged 6-24 months in East Africa: a geographically weighted regression analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Deployment of a machine learning-based predictive system for childhood diarrhea in Sub-Saharan Africa.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unlocking the Secrets of Nature: Phytochemicals as Key Players in Longevity and Healthy Aging.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Review
- Article
- Modeling diarrhea in children under five in Somaliland: A machine learning analysis using SLDHS 2020 data.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of diarrhea among young children in Kenya's drylands: A longitudinal study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Beyond Access to Sanitation Services: How Maternal Education Moderates Childhood Diarrhea Risk in Indonesia's Multilevel Context.Journal of research in health sciences · 2026Article
- Strengthening access to zinc and oral rehydration solution for childhood diarrheal treatment in Africa.Global health research and policy · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDiarrhea 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.
methodsThe 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.
resultThe 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.
conclusionThis 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.
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