ABSTRACT
Objective To describe the current situation of diarrhea in children under five years old in Nepal and to explore its influencing factors. Methods Data were collected from the open-access database, Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys in 2006, 2011 and 2016. Chi-square ( 2) and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to compare difference of potential risk factors between groups with and without diarrhea. Multiple Logistic regression model was adopted to identify significant influencing factors on diarrhea in children under five years old in Nepal. Results In 2006, 2011 and 2016, the incidence of diarrhea children under five in Nepal was 12.3%, 13.3% and 6.8%, respectively. Univariate analysis of the potential influencing factors showed that there were significant differences in the gender, water source, toilet facilities and fuel type, age of children, age of mother when she gave birth to the child and education years of mother and children with and without diarrhea (all P＜0.05). Multiple analysis revealed that improved toilet facilities (OR=0.874, 95% CI: 0.769-0.994, P=0.041) and the age of children(OR=0.613, 95% CI: 0.580-0.645, P＜0.001) were protective factors of childhood diarrhea, and the risk of boys was higher than that of girls(OR=1.277, 95% CI: 1.147-1.423, P＜0.001). Conclusions From 2006 to 2016, the incidence of diarrhea in children under five years old in Nepal was decreasing. Toilet facilities, age of children and gender of children were identified as the influencing factors of childhood diarrhea.