Prevalence of and factors associated with childhood diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infection in Bangladesh: an analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Satyajit Kundu; Subarna Kundu; Md Hasan Al Banna; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah; Abdul-Aziz Seidu; Joshua Okyere

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051744

Prevalence of and factors associated with childhood diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infection in Bangladesh: an analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional survey

BMJ Open. 2022 Apr 6;12(4):e051744. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051744.

Authors

Satyajit Kundu^#^{1

2}, Subarna Kundu^#³, Md Hasan Al Banna⁴, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah⁵, Abdul-Aziz Seidu^{6

7

8}, Joshua Okyere⁹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh satyajitnfs@gmail.com.
² School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
³ Statistics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Food Microbiology, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh.
⁵ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ Faculty of Built and Natural Environment, Department of Estate Management, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana.
⁷ Centre for Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana.
⁸ College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
⁹ Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of childhood diarrhoeal diseases (CDDs) and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and also to determine the factors associated with these conditions at the population level in Bangladesh.

Setting: The study entailed an analysis of nationally representative cross-sectional secondary data from the most recent Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2017-2018.

Participants: A total of 7222 children aged below 5 years for CDDs and 7215 children aged below 5 years for ARIs during the survey from mothers aged between 15 and 49 years were the participants of this study. In the bivariate and multivariable analyses, we used Pearson χ² test and binary logistic regression, respectively, for both outcomes.

Results: The overall prevalence of CDD and ARI among children aged below 5 years was found to be 4.91% and 3.03%, respectively. Younger children were more likely to develop both CDDs and ARIs compared with their older counterparts. Children belonging to households classified as poorest and with unimproved floor materials had a higher prevalence of diarrhoea than those from households identified as richest and with improved floor material, respectively. Stunted children had 40.8% higher odds of diarrhoea than normal children. Being male and having mothers aged below 20 years were 48.9% and two times more likely to develop ARI than female counterparts and children of mothers aged 20-34 years, respectively. Children whose mothers had no formal education or had primary and secondary education had higher odds of ARI compared with children of mothers having higher education.

Conclusion: This study found that children aged below 24 months were at higher risk of having CDDs and ARIs. Thus, programmes targeting these groups should be designed and emphasis should be given to those from poorest wealth quintile to reduce CDDs and ARIs.

Keywords: epidemiology; public health; respiratory infections.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Bangladesh / epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diarrhea / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Respiratory Tract Infections* / epidemiology
Risk Factors
Young Adult