Investigating Key Determinants of Childhood Diarrheal Incidence among Patients at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Western Uganda

This study aimed to analyze the determinants impacting diarrhea incidence among children under five at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Western Uganda. Through a cross-sectional investigation, quantitative data was collected via self-administered and investigator-led questionnaires utilizing digital tools such as Google Sheets for both online and offline data collection. From a randomized sample of 323 caregivers selected through convenience sampling, a diarrhea prevalence of 27.3% among children under five was observed at the time of data collection as reported by caregivers. Among the children studied, 136 (43.7%) were male, and 175 (56.3%) were female. The average age of the participants was 2 years with a standard deviation of 1.25 years. The analysis revealed higher rates of diarrhea among children aged 1 and 3 years, constituting 24 (28%) cases in each group, followed by 20 cases (24%) in the 2-year-old group. Additionally, 12 (14%) cases were reported in children aged 6- 11 months, while only 5 (6%) cases were found in 4-year-olds out of the total 85 reported cases of diarrhea. Regarding breastfeeding practices, 11 (3.7%) children were breastfed 1-3 times a day, 77 (26.1%) were breastfed 3-5 times, 150 (50.8%) were breastfed 5-7 times, 34 (11.5%) were breastfed 7-9 times, and 23 (7.8%) were breastfed more than 9 times a day. The introduction of supplementary food varied with 25 (8.0%) initiated at 3-4 months, 80 (25.7%) at 5-6 months, and the majority, 181 (58.2%), introduced to supplementary food after 6 months. The study highlighted maternal occupation influencing weaning practices; 152 (48.9%) of mothers who weaned their children at 2 years were self-employed, followed by 56 (18.0%) engaged in casual labor and 36 (11.6%) in civil service. Merely 6 (1.9%) civil servant mothers, 47 (15.1%) self-employed, and 14 (4.5%) casual laborers practiced weaning at three years of age. The elevated prevalence of diarrhea (27.3%) was associated with factors such as health-seeking behavior, early introduction of supplementary foods, premature weaning, and breastfeeding frequency. Notably, exclusive breastfeeding practices were scarce, with mothers introducing other foods early and weaning their children prematurely. Keywords: Diarrhoea, Children under five, Breastfeeding, Weaning, Supplementary foods.