Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Diarrhea among Under-Five Children in Manado Coastal Area, Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is a condition where individuals experience defecation as much as 3 or more per day with a soft consistency. Diarrhea in children is one of the environmentally-based diseases, and Manado is one of the cities faced with this environmental lead diarrhea problems. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on the occurrence of diarrhea among under-five children in the coastal area of Manado city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted in August 2017. The numbers of respondents were a total of 120 mothers or caregivers with children under five who suffered from diarrhea in the coastal area of Manado. The respondent candidates were selected from the community health center's records of the diarrhea program and further selected by the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The characteristics of mothers and family income were used as indicators of socioeconomic factors. All of the respondents were questioned about the occurrence of their child's diarrhea that they had experienced in the previous 6 months. A structured and well-designed questionnaire was used to obtain data, which were related to sociodemographic, economic, and diarrhea. Generalized structured component analysis in GeSCA software was applied for data analysis. RESULTS: The findings of this study showed significant influence from socioeconomic factors on diarrhea incidence in under-five children (critical ratio = 2.74). In other words, as socioeconomic factors improve, the incidence of diarrhea decreases (B = −0.246). The characteristics of the mother are the indicator of the highest influence (loading value = 0.846). CONCLUSIONS: This study identified that the socioeconomic factors are influencing the diarrhea incidence among children under five in the coastal area of Manado city. Thus, to minimize a childhood diarrheal disease, socioeconomic factors are considered when promoting health and community empowerment among the coastal communities of Manado city.