SPATIAL VARIATION IN DIARRHOEA PREVALENCE AMONG CHILDREN IN KADUNA STATE.

Y.A. Arigbede, M. Mamman, J.G. Laah

This study was carried out to map the spatial variation in diarrhoea prevalence and their attendant causes among children in Igabi, Zaria and Zangon Kataf Local Government Areas of Kaduna State. The data used included were from hospital records and questionnaire survey, of 477 respondents. Qualitative data from in depth interviews and Focus Group discussions were also used. The data for disease prevalence was aggregated within GIS environment to produce the disease maps and Chi square was used to determine the relationship between economic and sociodemographic characteristics of mothers, and diarrhoea prevalence in their children. The incidences of diarrhoea is most prevalent in Zaria with 50% of the cases, followed by Igabi(30%) and lastly Zangon- Kataf(20%) LGAs. Socioeconomic attributes of the mothers of the sick children had influence on the occurrence of diarrhoea in the children. Some of these included: educational attainment (p=0.029); the method of excrement disposal (0.025) and source of drinking water (p=0.007). To help manage diarrhoea prevalence, recommendations include the practice of disease preventive measures such as better sanitary environment, adequate nutrition of children, improved hygiene and education of mothers to at least secondary level. In conclusion, mapping childhood diseases such as diarrhoea present a better way of understanding variation in diseases and provide location-specific management measures.

Key words: Childhood, Diarrhoea, Drinking Water, Excrement disposal, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial variation..