Diarrhea Disease among Children under 5 Years of Age: A Global Systematic Review

Diarrhea diseases remain the second leading cause of death among children under five years globally. Nearly one in every five child deaths, about 1.6 million each year, are due to diarrhea. Further, diarrhea kills more young children than malaria, measles and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) combined. As a result, better understanding of childhood diarrhea occurrence can perhaps help reduce associated morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, this study conducted a global systematic review on occurrence of childhood diarrhea. The broad objective of this study was to review present and past researches on childhood diarrhea and most importantly for children under 5 years of age. The review focused on understanding the burden of diarrhea, causes of childhood diarrhea and solutions to the disease. A systematic literature review was conducted using the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Search key terms used were childhood diarrhea, risk factors and intervention practices. Journal articles and related reports were filtered and limited from 2005 to 2020. Sixty-one reports and articles that met inclusion criteria were used in this review. Review found that, childhood diarrhea imposes economic costs on the health system and families. Also, repeated bouts of diarrhea can lead to malnutrition, stunting and delayed brain growth later in life and can lead to stress and tension to the affected households. The dependence on open water sources which are often contaminated with fecal materials was found as the major cause of the rising prevalence of childhood diarrhea. Other important factors were poor hygienic practices and lack of sanitation facilities contribute to the spread of diarrhea diseases. Improvements in the quality of drinking water, sanitation facilities and hygiene practices especially in low and middle income countries have been suggested by many studies as an intervention to reduce childhood diarrhea.