Childhood Diarrhea Exhibits Spatiotemporal Variation in Northwest Ethiopia: A SaTScan Spatial Statistical Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Childhood diarrhea continues to be a public health problem in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Detecting clusters and trends of childhood diarrhea is important to designing effective interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate spatiotemporal clustering and seasonal variability of childhood diarrhea in northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

Retrospective record review of childhood diarrhea was conducted using quarterly reported data to the district health office for the seven years period beginning July 1, 2007. Thirty three districts were included and geo-coded in this study. Spatial, temporal and space-time scan spatial statistics were employed to identify clusters of childhood diarrhea. Smoothing using a moving average was applied to visualize the tr

SUBMITTER: Azage M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4687002 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature