Abstract:
Background: Traditional uvula cutting is some African Harmful traditional practice that is
commonly implemented like in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The
practice's has a significant negative effect on child’s health .The scope of the problem and the
reasons of the practice should have been verified in order to design effective preventive measures
against it. Therefore this study was aimed to assess prevalence and factors associated with
traditional uvula cutting among under- two years children in Godere district, Majang Zone,
Gambella regional state.
Method: A community-based cross-sectional study involving quantitative research was conducted
from June 1 to 30, 2022 among a total of 664 randomly selected children less than 2 years old in
Godere district. Data was collected by five trained data collectors by using interviewers
administered pre-tested questionnaires. The collected data was checked for completeness, entered to
Epi data version 4.1, exported to SPSS 26 version, coded and cleaned and then analyzed. Bivariate
logistic regression analysis was applied to select the candidate to evaluate the association of all
independent variables with the dependent variable. AOR with 95% CI and p value < 0.05 95% CI
were used to declare statistical significant association in the final model.
Result: The prevalence of the uvula cutting in this study was 61.9% .Being rural residence AOR:
2.3 (1.2, 4.39), mothers no educational status, AOR: 3.622 (95% CI: 1.540-8.522), mothers
information of Harmful traditional practice AOR: 2.098 (95% CI: 1.328-3.14), perceived uvula
cause illness AOR: 0.135 (95% CI: .087-.209), number of antenatal care visits AOR: .277 (95%
CI: .176-.436), antenatal counseling and AOR: .063 (95% CI: .017, .241) are significant factors.
Conclusion & recommendation: With a prevalence of 61.9 p%, it was determined that uvula
cutting was the most prevalent practice in the study area. The number of antenatal visits, antenatal
counseling, perceived uvula causes illness, and information about harmful traditional practice all
revealed a statistically significant association (P value less than 0.05) with the practice of uvula
cutting on children under the age of two. The community should be educated on the prevention of
harmful traditional practice; the elimination of this harmful practice should be a top priority for all
concerned parties
