Authors : Angela Maria Pinzon-Rondon, Carol Jisseth Zarate-Ardila, Laura Parra-Correa, Alisson Zarate-Ardila, Paola Lozada-Calderón and Leire Di Cecco
Abstract: Dysentery represents 10% of all cases of acute diarrhea in the world and recognizing the implied factors at different levels has the potential to impact its incidence. Our purpose is to identify proximal and distal factors including mother, household and country characteristics that favor the presence of dysentery in children under 5 years old. We conducted a multilevel analysis of data from phase V of the Demographic and Health Survey and the World Bank which included 38,762 children from 33 countries. Prevalence of dysentery was 14.74%. GDP per-capita was negative associated (OR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.71-0.78) and Gini index was positive associated (OR = 1.23; 95% CI 1.19-1.28). Additionally, maternal age in years (OR = 1.01; 95% CI 1.00-1.01), employed mother (OR = 1.11; 95% CI 1.02-1.20) and number of household members (OR = 1.02; 95% CI 1.01-1.03) have significant positive associations with the presence of dysentery, while child age in months (OR= 0.99; 95% CI 0.99-0.99), complete immunization schedule (OR= 0.88; 95% CI 0.81-0.96), duration of breast feeding (OR = 0.81; 95% CI 0.75-0.89) and type of residence (OR = 0.87; 95% CI 0.79-0.97) have significant negative associations with having the illness. Finally, each of the categories of wealth index showed a significant association with dysentery (p<0.001). Lower per capita GDP and higher Gini coefficient are associated with the development of dysentery, regardless of the characteristics of children, their mother and household. Future and present public health programs should address these issues in order to impact on the occurrence of this illness.
Angela Maria Pinzon-Rondon, Carol Jisseth Zarate-Ardila, Laura Parra-Correa, Alisson Zarate-Ardila, Paola Lozada-Calderón and Leire Di Cecco, 2019. Proximal and Distal Determinants Associated with Dysentery in Children Under-5 Years from Developing Countries. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 14: 33-41.