Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:42:07.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Maternal education and family income as determinants of severe disease following acute diarrhoea in children: a case control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Dilip Mahalanabis
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B)
Abu S. G. Faruque
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B)
Asma Islam
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B)
Syed S. Hoque
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B)

Summary

In a case-control study among the urban poor of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the association of maternal education and family income with severity of disease due to diarrhoea in children was examined. After adjusting for family income, 7 or more years of school education was associated with 54% reduced risk of severe disease as indicated by the presence of dehydration. Income in the uppermost quartile of this population, independently of maternal education, was associated with 41% reduced risk of severe disease compared to the lowest quartile. In the logistic regression model the effect of maternal education remained high after adjustment for several confounders. Based on the concept that socioeconomic variables operate through a set of proximate variables it is contended that maternal education, independently of economic power, through its impact on disease from acute diarrhoea, favourably influences child survival.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bhuiya, A., Wojtyniak, B., D'Souza, S., Nahar, L. & Shaikh, K. (1987) Measles case fatality among the under-fives: a multivariate analysis of risk factors in a rural area of Bangladesh. Social Sci. Med. 24, 439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bicego, G. T. & Boerma, J. T. (1993) Maternal education and child survival: a comparative study of survey data from 17 countries. Social Sci. Med. 36, 1207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, R. E., Merson, M. H., Eusof, A., Huq, I. & Pollard, R. (1984) Nutritional status, body size and severity of diarrhoea associated with rotavirus or enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. J. trop. Med. Hyg. 87, 83.Google ScholarPubMed
Chen, L. C., Rahman, M. & Sarder, A. M. (1980) Epidemiology and causes of death among children in a rural area of Bangladesh. Int. J. Epidemiol. 9, 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleland, J. G. & Van Ginneken, J. K. (1988) Maternal education and child survival in developing countries: the search for pathways of influence. Social Sci. Med. 27, 1357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cochrane, S., O'Hare, D. & Leslie, J. (1980) The Effects of Education on Health. Working Paper No. 405, World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Koenig, M. A., Khan, M. A., Wojtyniak, B., Clemens, J. D., Chakraborty, J., Fauveau, V., Phillips, J. F., Akbar, J. & Barua, U. S. (1990) Impact of measles vaccination on childhood mortality in rural Bangladesh. Bull. WHO, 68, 441.Google ScholarPubMed
Mosley, W. H. & Chen, L. C. (1984) An analytical framework for the study of child survival in developing countries. Popul. Dev. Rev. 10 (Suppl.), 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodrigues, L. & Kirkwood, B. (1990) Case–control designs in the study of common diseases: updates on the demise of the rare disease assumption and the choice of sampling scheme for controls. Int. J. Epidemiol. 19, 205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, J. D. & Merson, M. H. (1982) The magnitude of the global problem of acute diarrhoeal disease: a review of active surveillance data. Bull. WHO, 60, 605.Google ScholarPubMed
Stoll, B. J., Glass, R. I., Huq, M. I., Khan, M. U., Holt, J. E. & Banu, H. (1982) Surveillance of patients attending a diarrhoeal disease hospital in Bangladesh. Br. med. J. 285, 1185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations (1985) Socioeconomic Differentials in Child Mortality in Developing Countries. Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, UN, New York.Google Scholar
Zeitlyn, S., Rahman, A. K. S. M., Nielsen, B. H., Gomes, M., Kofoed, P. L. & Mahalanabis, D. (1992) Compliance with diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunisation in Bangladesh: factors identifying high risk groups. Br. med. J. 304, 606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed