Factors Affecting The Incidence of Acute Respiratory Tract Infection in Children under Five at Betungan Community Health Center, Bengkulu

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Each year, about 1.3 million children under 5 years die from acute respiratory infections worldwide. ARI constitute one third of the deaths in under five in low income countries. The World Health Organization estimates that respiratory infections account for 6% of the total global burden of disease. This study aimed to determine factors affecting the incidence of acute respiratory tract infection in children at Betungan Community Health Center, Bengkulu. Subjects and Method: This was cross sectional study conducted at Betungan community health center from Juny to July 2019. Total of 109 children under five were selected for this study by accidental sampling. The dependent variabel was incidence of acute respiratory tract infection. The independent variables were age, maternal education, occupation, smoking, room ventilation, floor condition, occupant density, and wall condition. Data were collected by a set of questionnaire and analyzed by a multiple logistic regression. Results: As many as 25 (44.6%) children aged 0 to 23 month had ARI. 32 (55.2%) of the sample were male and 27 (52.9%) female. 27 (56.3%) parents of the children attained senior high school. The incidence of ARI in children decreased with absence of smoking habit (OR= 0.24; p= 0.001), good room ventilation (OR= 0.28; p=0.003), and low occupant density (OR= 0.28; p=0.002). Conclusion: Incidence of ARI in children decreases with absence of smoking habit, good room ventilation, and low occupant density. Keyword: acute respiratory tract infection, risk factor, children under five. Correspondence: Eka Triana. Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia. Email: ekahudi@yahoo.com. Mobile: 082179655188 BACKGROUND Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Every year, around 1.3 million children under the age of 5 die from respiratory infections worldwide. ARI is one of three deaths in low-income countries (Tazinya et al., 2018). In developing countries, ISPA incidents often occur with under-five mortality per 40 per 1000 live births is 15-20% per year in the toddler age group (Dongky and Kadrianti, 2016). Acute Respiratory Infection is one of the health problems in the community, it is important to pay attention. 70% of ARI occur in Africa and Southeast Asia (Winardi and Umboh, 2015). In Indonesia ARI disease in children under five with morbidity rates 3-6 times per year (Dewi, 2012). There are two types of ARI namely the upper ARI and the lower ARI. Symptoms of ARI in children usually feel pain in the throat, colds, and cough. ARI can get worse if air pollution occurs. House air ventilation is inadequate, the area of the house is also considered whether it is sufficient for one family's purpose so that clean indoor air can be exchanged from clean and dirty air (Wangsa and Oka, 2019).