Publications

Diarrhoea stands as a significant global public health issue, with the WHO reportingapproximately 2.5 billion cases annually among children below five years old. This studyaimed to ascertain the prevalence of diarrhoea and its influencing factors in children underfive admitted to Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (KIU-TH). Employing across-sectional and descriptive approach, quantitative data was gathered through selfadministeredand investigator-led questionnaires, utilizing digital tools such as GoogleSheets for data collection. A total of 238 mothers, randomly selected using conveniencesampling, whose children were admitted at KIU-TH constituted the study's sample. Theresults, presented through 95% Confidence Intervals (C.I), Odd Ratios (OR), and P-values, werecomputed using Binary Logistic Regression with Pearson’s correlation in SPSS Version 26, andgraphically represented using Microsoft Excel Software. At the time of data collection, theprevalence of diarrhoea among children under five admitted at KIU-TH stood at 24.4% basedon maternal responses. This high prevalence was found to be influenced by several factors,including the child's vaccination status, the early introduction of supplementary foods,premature weaning practices, and the child's age. Notably, exclusive breastfeeding practiceswere not adhered to, with mothers introducing other foods at a young age and initiating earlyweaning practices.Keywords: Diarrhoea, Children under five years of age, Vaccination status, early weaning