Determinants of acute respiratory infections among under five children in a rural area of Tamil Nadu, India

INTRODUCTION: Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is an infection of the respiratory tract. It may interfere with normal breathing of the individual and is communicable in nature. There are several modifiable risk factors that predispose younger age group of children to ARI. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk factors that contribute to occurrence of ARI among the under 5 children. METHODS: This community based cross sectional study was carried out among 380 rural under five children in Kancheepuram district, by systematic random sampling method. A pretested structured questionnaire was used for data collection that was analyzed using SPSS software version 16. The analytical statistics such as Chi – square test, Odds Ratio, and Confidence Interval were used to determine the association of ARI with its determinants. RESULTS: In this study, the prevalence of ARI among under five children was 41.6%. The prevalence of ARI was predominant among boys (50.6%) and those residing in semi pucca and kutcha type of house (50.3%) with poor ventilation (61.3%), history of parental smoking (57%), respiratory infection among family members (51.1%) children who did not cry immediately after birth because of any complication (60.9%), and malnourished children (66.4%). These factors contributed to increased prevalence of ARI with a statistically significant association with a P value < 0.05. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of ARI in this study was contributed by multiple factors. The primary care physician can play a vital role to create awareness on hazards because of exposure to the various contributing factors by lifestyle modifications, good nutrition, and healthy and safe environment.