Morbidity of diarrheal disease among children aged under five years living in internally displaced population camps of Hodan District, Mogadishu-Somalia
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Date
2016-11
Authors
Warsame, Hawa Ali
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The last two decades of armed conflicts, lack of functioning government, economic collapse, and
disintegration of the health system and other public services - together with recurrent droughts
and famines, have turned Somalia into one of the world’s most difficult environments for
survival. The under-five mortality in Somalia is estimated at 200 deaths per 1,000 live births,
which is one of the highest in the world. Diarrhea is the main killer; contributing to 20-25 per
cent of all under-five mortality. The main objective of this study was to assess the morbidity of
diarrhea among under-five children living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Hodan
district which has the highest IDP settlement in Mogadishu with conditions that are conducive to
occurrence of diarrheal disease in the district. The study used descriptive cross-sectional survey
design and multistage sampling technique to select 236 children. Researcher administered
structured questionnaires were used to collect data using face-to-face interviews with
mothers/care givers of the children during a one-time visit to the households. Data was analyzed
using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 software. Descriptive and
inferential statistical findings were presented in form of text, tables, graphs and charts. Chi-square
was used to show the relationship between variables. Fourth eight percent of households reported
having children who suffered from diarrhea in the past 2 weeks preceding the study. Diarrhea was
also the most common disease reported by mothers/care givers among under-five children in the
camps, affecting 107(45.3%) of the children. Diarrheal disease occurrence was highest (74.3%)
among children of mothers who did not attend school (p=0.001), children living in households
provided water by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (p=0.025) and among children
whose main source of water was public tap diarrhea (71.3%; p =0.001). Most parents in the camp
delayed taking their ill children to hospital opting to first use traditional medicines resulting in
many cases of admissions at the health facilities. From the study findings it can be concluded that
diarrhea was the most prevalent disease among under-fives and is more likely to occur among
children whose mothers had no education, and who lived in household whose main source of
drinking water was public tap, supplied by NGOs. In addition, the study concluded that other
environmental factors had no association with diarrhea occurrence. The study recommends
educating mothers to reduce overall illiteracy rate of Somali women, and regular treatment of
drinking water and evaluation of water quality by the Ministry of Health and Human Services.
Given the high diarrhea prevalence and the fact that camp environmental conditions are
conducive to its occurrence, the study also recommends promotion of improved hygiene and
sanitation practices, even though these were not found to be associated with diarrhea in this
particular study.
Description
A research thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Public Health(Epidemiology and Disaster control) in the School of Public Health of Kenyatta University, November, 2016. Call Number - RJ 456 .D5S6W3
Keywords
Diarrhea in children, Internally displaced persons