Predictors of simple diarrhoea in children under 5 years--a study of a Sudanese rural community.

As a baseline to address the hypothesis that malnutrition increases the risk of childhood diarrhoea, 445 children under 5 years of age in a Sudanese rural community were categorized according to weight-for-age, and their history of diarrhoea during the previous 2 weeks was determined. Social, maternal and demographic characteristics were also recorded. A strong association between malnutrition and diarrhoea was observed with evidence for a dose-response relationship. Mildly-malnourished children had close to twice the risk of diarrhoea of well-nourished children (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0-2.6), and the moderately malnourished had more than twice that risk (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.3-4.5). The association with malnutrition was independent of age, although age was a strong predictor of the risk of diarrhoea, particularly during the second year. The risk of diarrhoea was higher for females and diminished with the age of the mother and the mother's education. Age was a strong predictor of diarrhoea; the risk being particularly high during the second year of life. Although the results were suggestive of an association between nutritional status and risk of diarrhoea, prospective investigations to further elucidate the causal direction of the relationship is needed.