Determinants of childhood diarrhea in a highly heterogeneous urban context: the case of Dakar - Senegal

Iulia Rautu, Université Catholique de Louvain
Stéphanie Dos Santos, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) et Institut Superieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP)
Bruno D. Schoumaker, Université Catholique de Louvain

In Senegal, diarrheal infections constitute one of the most significant urban health issues, affecting primarily children. In the capital, Dakar, the rapid urbanization of recent decades lead to high population densities in a very heterogeneous urban space. Thus, children from Dakar are exposed to different risk factors for diarrheal diseases, depending on the area they live in. In this context, this paper analyzes the relative role of the determinants of childhood diarrhea in the highly heterogeneous urban context of Dakar. It uses a three-level statistical analysis, in order to differentiate the part of factors relating to the individual, the family and the immediate environment. We also illustrate a relatively new statistical approach in demography – latent class analysis (LCA) – which allows to synthesize a large number of indicators, in order to estimate these multi-dimensional determinants. This helps to create a comprehensive causal image, while using parsimonious statistical models.