Factors associated with the occurrence of childhood diarrhoea among mothers of under-five children in urban and rural areas in Myanmar

• Main Author: Naw Cho Cho Lyan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Diarrhea in children—Burma; Maternal and Child Health; Public Health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6058; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13175&context=etd_masteral
• Institution: De La Salle University

This comparative cross-sectional study was carried out to examine the effects of background characteristics, availability of basic services, and the knowledge, attitude and practices that were associated with childhood diarrhoea in urban and rural areas in Yangon Division in Myanmar in May 2010. A total of 116 mothers who had at least one under-five child were randomly selected from one urban maternal and child health centre, and one rural health centre. Information on the background characteristics, availability of basic services, and knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents were collected using pretested interview schedule. Cross tabulations and Chi-square tests were utilized to see possible relationships among variables. The findings of this study showed that the prevalence of diarrhoea in under-fives in the last six months prior to the study was 16.1% in the urban area and 33.3% in the rural area. A significant variation was observed in the prevalence of diarrhoea between the urban and rural areas. The rural children had more than two times higher odds of having diarrhoea than their urban counterparts. The odd of having diarrhoea was also higher among children who lived in households that had drinking water storage in the urban area. Breastfeeding practice and current breastfeeding status, hand washing practice, and health seeking practice were also found to be significant predictors of diarrhoeal morbidity in children. However, the effects of maternal age, education, occupation, household income, drinking water source, toilet facility, refuse disposal and health care services were not found to be statistically significant. Despite having some knowledge and a correct attitude towards diarrhoea, the respondents’ practices are still far from optimal so there remains room for improvements. There is a need to provide not only health education, but also material supports that promote positive practices particularly in the rural area. The high prevalence of diarrhoea may be alleviated by sustainable socioeconomic development through integrated effort of different sectors in the long run.