Childhood morbidity and its determinants: evidence from 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background: Although under-five mortality reduced globally from 93 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 39 in 2018, sub-Saharan Africa witnessed an increase from 31% in 1990 to 54% in 2018. Morbidity has been reported to contribute largely to these deaths. This study examined the factors that are associated with childhood morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Demographic and Health Surveys of 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were used in this study. The study involved 189 069 children who had or did not have fever, cough or diarrhoea in the 2 weeks preceding the surveys. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were applied in the analysis.

Results: About 22% of the children suffered from fever, 23% suffered from cough and 16% suffered from diarrhoea. While the odds of experiencing fever increased by 37% and 18%, respectively, for children from poorest and poorer households, children of women aged 15-24 and 25-34 years are 47% and 23%, respectively, more likely to experience diarrhoea. The probability of suffering from morbidity increased for children who are 12-23 months, of higher order birth, small in size at birth and from households with non-improved toilet facility.

Conclusions: This study has shown that childhood morbidity remains a major health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa with socioeconomic, maternal, child's and environmental factors playing significant roles. Efforts at addressing this problem should consider these factors.

Keywords: child health; health policy; health services research; public health.