ABSTRACT
Introduction: In Ethiopia, primary tooth extraction is a process of pulling out of an infant's healthy primary teeth by traditional healers or family members. Traditional healers use unsterile equipment to perform teeth extraction blindly, as a result, the child is prone to different life-threatening complications such as anemia and infectious blood-borne diseases. Despite all of these consequences, it is one of the neglected health problems, especially for developing countries. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of primary tooth extraction among under-five year's children in Debre Tabor Town, Northcentral Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 370 participants, from March 2020 to April 2020 in Debre Tabor town. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select study participants. The data were collected by using a semi-structured pretested questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. The data was exported to SPSS version 20 software for analysis. Both binary and multiple logistic regression have been used to observe the association between the outcome variable with each independent variable. Finally, a 95% confidence interval was computed and variables with P-value ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of primary teeth extraction among under-five-year children in Debre Tabor town was found to be 11.1% [95% CI: 7.8-14.2]. Being able to read and write in educational status [AOR: 3.97 (1.20-13.09)], having a mother caregiver [AOR: 0.35 (0.15-0.82)], having poor awareness [AOR: 6.15 (1.56-27.56)], and having a previous history of using traditional medicines [AOR: 6.65 (3.09-14.34)] were significantly associated with primary tooth extraction. Conclusion: The prevalence of primary tooth extraction was found to be high. Educational status, caregiver of the child, level of awareness, and previous history of using traditional medicines were factors associated with primary tooth extraction.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Vaccination is the most important mechanism to improve childhood survival. However, immunization coverage is very low and unevenly distributed throughout the country. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of immunization coverage in Ethiopia. METHOD: Immunization coverage data and geospatial covariates data were obtained from EDHS 2000 to 2019 and different publicly available sources. A Bayesian geostatistic model was used to estimate the national immunization coverage at a pixel level and to identify factors associated with the spatial clustering of immunization coverages. RESULT: The overall immunization coverage in Ethiopia was 38.7%, 36.55%, 51.8%, 67.1% and 66.9% for 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016 and 2019 respectively. Spatial clustering of low immunization coverage was observed in Eastern, Southern, Southwestern, Southeastern and Northeastern parts of Ethiopia in EDHSs. The altitude of the area was positively associated with immunization coverage in 2000, 2005 and 2019 EDHS. The population density was positively associated with immunization coverage in 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2016. Precipitation is also positively associated with immunization coverage in 2016. Moreover, mean annual temperature was positively associated with immunization coverage in 2000, 2005 and 2019 EDHSs. Travel time to the nearest city is negatively associated with immunization coverage in 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2016. Likewise, distance to health facilities was negatively associated with immunization coverage in all the five EDHSs. CONCLUSION: This study found that immunization coverage in Ethiopia substantially varied across the subnational and local levels. Spatial clustering of low immunization coverage was observed in Southern, Southeastern, Southwestern, Northeastern, and Eastern parts of the country. Altitude, population density, precipitation, temperature, travel time to the nearest city in minutes, and distance to the health facilities were factors that affect the spatial clustering of immunizations coverage. These findings can guide policymakers in Ethiopia to design geographically targeted interventions to increase programs to achieve maximum immunization coverage.
