Prevalence and risk factors of acute respiratory infection among under fives in rural communities of Ekiti State, Nigeria

• Main Author: Oluremi Olayinka Solomon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Makhdoomi Printers 2018-01-01
• Series: Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health
• Subjects: Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI); Risk Factors; Prevalence; Under Fives
• Online Access: http://gjmedph.com/uploads/O4-Vo7No1.pdf
• ISSN: 2277-9604; 2277-9604

Background Acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality among under‐five children in the developing world. It constitutes one‐third of the deaths in under‐five in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of ARI and risk factors for ARI among under‐fives children in rural communities of Ekiti State. Study design The study was cross sectional descriptive/analytical in nature. A semi‐ structured, pretested and interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from 436 care givers who were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated and level of significance was p < 0.05. Results Among the under‐fives 237 (54.4%) were males while 199 (45.6%) were females with mean age of 28.4 ± 15.2 months. Numbers of under‐fives with ARI were 283 (64.9%). The commonest symptoms of ARI were cough 161 (36.9%), fever 176 (40.4%) and running nose 157 (36.0%). The major risk factors for ARI were second hand smoking (90.9%), cooking with charcoal (79.4%), overcrowding (70.6%) and sleeping on earthen floor (90.8%) The odds of ARI among under‐ five sleeping with two adults in a room was lower compared to under five sleeping with more than two adults (AOR 1.739, CI 1.123 – 2.694, p<0.05). Conclusion The prevalence and level at which the under‐five children were exposed to ARI risk factors in this study were high. Care givers in the rural communities will benefit from public awareness campaign on risk factors for ARI and this will go a long way in reducing mortality and morbidity due to ARI among under‐five children.