Acute lower respiratory infections among children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of prevalence and risk factors

BMC Pediatrics

Research

Thomas Boateng Gyan¹  Mustapha Amoadu¹  Abdul-Ganiyu Osman¹  Jacob Owusu Sarfo¹  Peace Yaa Kordorwu¹  Abdul Karim Adams¹  Immanuel Asiedu¹  Edward Wilson Ansah¹  Forster Amponsah-Manu²  Priscilla Ofosu-Appiah² 

[1] Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana;Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua, Ghana;

关键词: Acute lower respiratory infection;    Children under five;    Sub-Saharan Africa;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-023-04033-x

 received in 2022-12-09, accepted in 2023-04-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAcute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) among children under five are still the leading cause of mortality among this group of children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scoping review aims to map evidence on prevalence and risk factors associated with ALRTIs among children under 5 years to inform interventions, policies and future studies.MethodsA thorough search was conducted via four main databases (PubMed, JSTOR, Web of Science and Central). In all, 3,329 records were identified, and 107 full-text studies were considered for evaluation after vigorous screening and removing duplicates, of which 43 were included in this scoping review.FindingsFindings indicate a high prevalence (between 1.9% to 60.2%) of ALRTIs among children under five in SSA. Poor education, poverty, malnutrition, exposure to second-hand smoke, poor ventilation, HIV, traditional cooking stoves, unclean fuel usage, poor sanitation facilities and unclean drinking water make children under five more vulnerable to ALRTIs in SSA. Also, health promotion strategies like health education have doubled the health-seeking behaviours of mothers of children under 5 years against ALRTIs.ConclusionALRTIs among children under five still present a significant disease burden in SSA. Therefore, there is a need for intersectoral collaboration to reduce the burden of ALRTIs among children under five by strengthening poverty alleviation strategies, improving living conditions, optimising child nutrition, and ensuring that all children have access to clean water. There is also the need for high-quality studies where confounding variables in ALRTIs are controlled.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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