Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Diarrhoea in Infants in Nigeria
Diarrhoea in Infants in Nigeria
net/publication/320219392
CITATIONS READS
53 426
3 authors, including:
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
All content following this page was uploaded by Magbagbeola David Dairo on 06 December 2017.
Research
Prevalence and determinants of diarrhoea among infants in selected
primary health centres in Kaduna north local government area, Nigeria
1
Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 2Nigeria Field
Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Abuja, Nigeria
&
Corresponding author: Magbagbeola David Dairo, Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Key words: Exclusive breastfeeding, infant diarrhoea, immunization status, infant care, maternal health education
Abstract
Introduction: Despite efforts toward the prevention and management of diarrhoea, associated mortality among infants has remained high in
Northern Nigeria. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and identify determinants of diarrhoea among infants in Kaduna North
Local Government Area (KNLGA), Nigeria. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey 630 mothers of infants attending three primary health care
centers were interviewed. Data was collected on socio-demo graphic characteristics, infant care practices, infant diarrhoea history and mothers
knowledge of causes, symptoms and management of diarrhea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and logistic regression
tests at 5% level of significance. Results: Mothers' mean age was 27±5.5 years and 46.1% had secondary education. Infants' mean age was
22.4± 12.8 weeks and 50% were females. Prevalence of diarrhoea in the two weeks preceding the study was 21.1%. Only 11.7% of mothers had
poor knowledge of diarrhoea. About 76.3% of mothers always washed their hands with soap after cleaning infants' perineum. Majority of infants
(84.6%) completed age appropriate immunization while 31.6% were exclusively breastfed. Infants whose mothers sometimes (OR=2.32; 95% CI:
1.4-3.87) or never washed (OR=2.64; 95% CI: 1.19-5.82) their hands with soap after cleaning the infants perineumand those with incomplete age
appropriate immunization (OR=1.87, 95% CI: 1.2-2.896) were more likely to have diarrhoea. Conclusion: Promotion of hygiene and nutrition
education for mothers particularly on proper infant feeding practices, hand washing practices and complete immunization of infants is needed to
address the diarrhea determinants.
© Magbagbeola David Dairo et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
The findings from this study suggests that control of Developing Countries, in Infections of the Gastrointestinal
diarrhoea among infants will benefit greatly from Tract, 2nd ed. Ravdin, H. B. Greenberg, Ed. 2002. Philadelphia,
intervention at maternal level with particular focus Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. Google Scholar
Competing interests
3. Ehiri J. Maternal and Child Health. New York, Springer. 2009;
2nd edition. Google Scholar
Author's declare no competing interest.
MDD and IFT conceived the study, did the literature review and 5. Ibrahim M, Odoemena D, Ibrahim M. Intestinal helminthic
designed the study instrument. IFT collected the data. MDD and IFT infestations among primary school children in Sokoto. Sahel
analysed the data while MDD, IFT and ATS wrote the manuscript. Med J. 2000; 3(2):65-68. Google Scholar