Table 1.
Comparison of Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Clinical Characteristics of Children With Moderate-to-Severe Diarrhea (MSD) to Children Without MSD During May 2015 to July 2018 in 3 Sites in sub-Saharan Africa: Basse and Bansang, The Gambia; Bamako, Mali; and Siaya County, Kenya
| Children With MSD (n = 4603) |
Children Without MSD (n = 5976) |
P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic features | |||
| ȃAge in months, n (%) | |||
| ȃȃ0–11 | 1629 (35.4) | 2035 (34.1) | .031 |
| ȃȃ12–23 | 1618 (35.2) | 2038 (34.1) | |
| ȃȃ24–59 | 1356 (29.5) | 1903 (31.8) | |
| ȃSite, n (%) | |||
| ȃȃThe Gambia | 1579 (34.3) | 2046 (34.2) | .076 |
| ȃȃMali | 1542 (33.5) | 1896 (31.7) | |
| ȃȃKenya | 1482 (32.2) | 2034 (34.1) | |
| Females, n (%) | 2136 (46.4) | 2767 (46.3) | .92 |
| More than 2 under-5 children per caretaker, n (%) | 2298 (49.9) | 2778 (46.5) | <.001* |
| Crowding (>3 people sleeping per room), n (%) | 1862 (40.5) | 2405 (40.2) | .83 |
| Socioeconomic features | |||
| Caretaker completed ≥ primary school, n (%) | 1549 (33.7) | 2107 (35.3) | .09 |
| Household possessions, n (%) | |||
| Car | 556 (12.1) | 678 (11.4) | .25 |
| Scooter | 2362 (51.4) | 2932 (49.1) | .02* |
| Bike | 2437 (53.0) | 3257 (54.6) | .109 |
| Cart | 1314 (28.6) | 1609 (27.0) | .07 |
| Phone | 4409 (95.9) | 5767 (96.6) | .05 |
| Radio | 3537 (76.9) | 4658 (78.0) | .172 |
| Agricultural land | 2621 (57.0) | 3590 (60.1) | .001* |
| Electricity | 2446 (53.2) | 3259 (54.6) | .15 |
| Television | 2148 (46.7) | 2691 (45.1) | .10 |
| Refrigerator | 742 (16.1) | 933 (15.6) | .48 |
| Principal component, mean (SD) | 00541 (1.45) | −0.00417 (1.44) | .74 |
| Finished floor (missing = 20) | 3337 (72.6) | 4341 (72.8) | .78 |
| Clean cooking fuela (missing = 18) | 261 (5.7) | 331 (5.5) | .78 |
| Improved drinking water (missing = 1) | 3871 (84.1) | 5207 (87.2) | <.0001* |
| Improved sanitation | 2891 (62.8) | 3382 (56.6) | <.0001* |
| Clinical variables | |||
| Stunted at enrollment, n (%) | 1003 (21.8) | 1270 (21.3) | .50 |
| Diagnosed pneumonia,b n (%) | 79 (1.7) | 76 (1.3) | .07 |
| Days to follow-up, mean (SD) | 66.8 (7.1) | 66.1 (6.8) | <.0001* |
| Duration of diarrhea,c median (range), days | 5 (1-20) | 0 (0-14) | <.0001* |
Abbreviations: MSD, moderate-to-severe diarrhea; SD, standard deviation.
Clean fuel includes electric, propane, butane, or natural gas.
Subsequent morbidity information came from a questionnaire at ∼60 days follow-up.
Wilcoxon rank-sum test; 27.2% of children without MSD went on to develop diarrhea (≥3 abnormally loose stools in 1 day) during the 14 days after enrollment, as recorded by caretakers on the memory aid card.
*Significant, P < .05.