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Prolonged and persistent diarrhoea is not restricted to children with acute malnutrition: an observational study in Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Zangenberg Mike,
Johansen Øystein H.,
Abdissa Alemseged,
Eshetu Beza,
Kurtzhals Jørgen A. L.,
Friis Henrik,
Sommerfelt Halvor,
Langeland Nina,
Hanevik Kurt
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.13291
Subject(s) - medicine , malnutrition , severe acute malnutrition , logistic regression , pediatrics , observational study , diarrhea , case control study , malnutrition in children
Objectives To assess the prevalence of prolonged and persistent diarrhoea, to estimate their co‐occurrence with acute malnutrition and association with demographic and clinical factors. Methods Case–control study where cases were children under 5 years of age with diarrhoea and controls were children without diarrhoea, frequency‐matched weekly by age and district of residency. Controls for cases 0–11 months were recruited from vaccination rooms, and controls for cases 12–59 months were recruited by house visits using random locations in the catchment area of the study sites. Data were analysed by mixed model logistic regression. Results We enrolled 1134 cases and 946 controls. Among the cases, 967 (85%) had acute diarrhoea ( AD ), 129 (11%) had ProD and 36 (3.2%) had PD . More cases had acute malnutrition at enrolment (17% vs . 4%, P < 0.0001) and more were born prematurely (5.7% vs . 1.8%, P < 0.0001) than controls. About 75% of Pro PD cases did not have acute malnutrition. Cases with AD and Pro PD had different symptomatology, even beyond illness duration. Conclusions Pro PD is common among children presenting with diarrhoea and is not confined to children with acute malnutrition. There is an urgent need for studies assessing causes of Pro PD with and without acute malnutrition to develop treatment guidelines for these conditions.