Pediatrics · Public Health · 1 h ago
Yemen case–control study identifies factors associated with childhood diarrhea
A facility-based case–control study in Sana’a enrolled 430 children under five, including 215 with acute diarrhea and 215 controls. Water and sanitation conditions, feeding practices, and several socioeconomic and demographic factors were associated with diarrhea; the observational design cannot establish causation.
- Study included 430 children at six Sana’a health facilities.
- Water and sanitation measures were associated with acute diarrhea.
- Feeding practices and caregiver handwashing were also associated.
- Observational design cannot establish cause and effect.
Researchers conducted a frequency-matched case–control study at six public health facilities in Sana’a City, Yemen, from January to May 2025. They enrolled 215 children under five with acute diarrhea and 215 controls without acute diarrhea in the preceding three months. Caregivers were interviewed, and associations were assessed using multivariable logistic regression.
Reported associations included no household treatment of drinking water (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 18.56, 95% CI 1.36–54.37), use of private treated drinking water (AOR 15.51, 95% CI 5.47–44.01), and having two or fewer children under five in the household (AOR 8.92, 95% CI 3.89–20.48). Nearby open waste dumps or sewage (AOR 5.18), unimproved sanitation (AOR 4.04), and not washing hands with soap after diaper changes or assisting with defecation (AOR 3.04) were also associated with acute diarrhea. Non-exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding before six months were among the reported feeding-related associations.
The findings point to potentially relevant water, sanitation, hygiene, and feeding factors in this setting. Because this was a facility-based observational study relying on caregiver interviews, associations do not establish causality and may not generalize beyond the study population. The authors call for prospective or intervention studies.
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BMC Public Health: Factors associated with acute diarrhea among children under five years of age in Sana’a City, Yemen: a facility-based frequency-matched case–control study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.