Spatial disparities and associated factors of Under-five diarrhea disease in Ilubabor Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract Diarrhea is commonly a sign of an infection in the intestinal tract that is caused by different bacteria, virus and parasitic entities. It is one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa countries including Ethiopia. The main objective of this study was to identify spatial disparities and associated factors of under- five diarrhea disease in Ilubabor zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. The study has been conducted in Ilu Aba Bor zone of entire districts and the data is basically both primary and secondary which were obtained from each woreda health office of Ilu Aba Bor zone and corresponding mother or care givers of sampled child. Spatial disparities of under-five diarrhea were identified using global and local measures of spatial autocorrelation. Geo-additive regression model was used to identify the spatial disparities and associated factors of under-five diarrheal disease. The value of global and local measures of spatial autocorrelation shows that under-five diarrheal disease varies according to geographical location and shows significant positive spatial autocorrelation. The results of Geo-additive regression model showed that statistically significant relationship between under-five diarrhea disease and independent variables .There is evidence of significant under-five diarrheal disease clustering in Ilu Aba Bor zone, southwest Ethiopia. Model based data analysis showed that there is significant relationship between Under-five diarrhea and covariates (mother’s age, mother’s education, source of drinking water, quality of toilet facility, DPT 3 vaccination, Polio 3 vaccination and household wealth index.).