Prevalence of Diarrhoea

The indicator assesses the percentage of children aged 8 - 59 months who suffered from diarrhoea in the past two weeks. Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of child deaths and has a significant impact on their health and nutritional status. It is defined as having 3 or more loose or liquid stools in one day.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with mothers of a representative sample of children aged 8 - 59 months:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Ask the following questions and record the answers in the form below:

Q1: Can you please tell me the names, ages and genders of your children?

A1: record in the table below the name, ages and genders of all children aged between 8 and 59 months

Q2: In the past two weeks, did [say the name of the first child] have loose stool?

A2: record the answer in the table below

(ask the following question only if the previous answer is YES)

Q3: During this time, how many loose stools did s/he pass in the course of one day?

A3: record the answer in the table below

Repeat questions Q2 and Q3 for all other children aged 8 - 59 months.

Only record data related to children aged 8 to 59 months:

Child                                                                          Child 1  Child 2

Q1: Name

Q1: Age (in months)

Q1: Sex

Q2: Did s/he have loose stool  in the past 2 weeks?

Q3: How many loose stools in a day?

To calculate the indicator's value:

- Divide the number of children who had at least 3 loose stools in the course of one day by the total number of surveyed children aged 8 - 59 months (exclude those whose parent / respondent did not remember whether they had a loose stool or how many loose stools they had).

- Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by gender and age groups.

1) The stool of children aged up to 8 months is naturally loose and may not indicate diarrhoea. Therefore, only include children aged 8 - 59 months in your survey.

2) The prevalence of diarrhoea is often prone to seasonal differences. Do your best to collect baseline and endline data in the same period, otherwise, it is possible that they will not be comparable.