Water, sanitation, socioeconomic status and prevalence of waterborne diseases: a cross-sectional study at Makwanpur district, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Nepal is a developing country. Lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services are always considered as major issue in developing countries that accounts for high prevalence of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and jaundice. In addition, socioeconomic status such as; education, income and occupation are also the bottle-necks in developing countries, like Nepal, which might be the other potential influential factors associated with prevalence of waterborne diseases. Objective: This study aims to assess the association of water, sanitation and socioeconomic status with the prevalence rate of waterborne diseases. Method: The associations were established by collecting data via a self-prepared questionnaire in Daman and Palung Village Development Committees (VDC), Makwanpur district, Nepal. Data were analyzed by performing the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test of independence, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Result: The prevalence of waterborne diseases was found to be 50.7% in our study. This study showed a significant association between level of education and risk of waterborne diseases. However, associations could not be established between water, sanitation and waterborne diseases. Conclusion: Education was found to be an influential factor for the occurrence of the diarrheal diseases in the study sites.