Abstract:
Introduction: Acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) is a leading cause of morbidity
and mortality in children under the age of 5 years throughout the world. In Ethiopia
the prevalence of ARI among under five children was 7% according to 2016 EDHS
report.
Objective: This study was aimed to determine factors associated with the prevalence of acute respiratory infection (ARI) among under-five children in Ethiopia using
Bayesian multilevel approach.
Methods: This study has been conducted in Ethiopia based on data obtained from
EDHS 2016 which mainly focused on under-five children (age from 0-59 months). The
survey was collected from a total of 10,641 children aged less than five years out of
which 9,918 children were considered in this study. The study was used Bayesian
Multilevel Logistic Regression Model to investigate the major risk factors and regional
variations in ARI among under five children in Ethiopia. To determine the posterior
marginal, the MCMC methods with non-informative priors have been applied. Deviance information criterion was used to compare models.
Results:The analysis showed that the overall ARI prevalence rate between 9,918 under
five children was 8.4%. Based on DIC, Bayesian multilevel logistic regression of random
coefficient model was found to be more appropriate than empty and intercept model.
According to the output of the model childs age, household wealth index, women’s
educational level, vitamin A supplement, history of diarrhea, maternal work, stunting
and source of drinking water were found to be significant factors for prevalence of ARI
among children under five years.
Conclusions: This study revealed that there is a significant variation of incidence of
ARI among under-five children between and within the regions of Ethiopia. The study
recommends all regional states to make remedial measures on public health policy and
improve the abilities of stakeholder living in their region toward those major factors
associated with the prevalence of ARI among under five children.
