Abstract:
Malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among
under-five children. Among malnutrition prevalence of wasting was very high in under five years of age.
However, there was little information about reoccurrence of wasting after recovery from outpatient
therapeutic program and whether this recovery was sustained or not in their homes.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of wasting of children 6-59months after six months' post-discharge
from outpatient therapeutic program in Habro woreda, East Ethiopia, from August 25-September
20/2020.
Method: A community- based cross-sectional study design were conducted among 306 randomly selected
children age 6-59 months discharged from OTP six months before the commencement of the study in the
Habro woreda, East Ethiopia. Data was collected using pre-tested and structured questionnaires through
face-to-face interviews of mothers and children anthropometric measurements. Bivariate logistic
regression analysis was used to see the association between dependent and each independent variables.
Covariates that were significant at p-value < 0.25 in the bivariate analysis entered to multivariate analysis
to control for all possible confounders. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p-value of
less than 0.05.
Result: The prevalence of wasting of children after six discharged from OTP was 28% (95% CI:24.1%-
34.7%). Among these 7.7% of children severely wasted and 20.3% of children moderately wasted. The
factors that positively associate with wasting were educational status of mother (AOR=3.4; 95% CI: 1.14-
10.47), household food insecurity (AOR =4.11; 95%CI: 1.87-9), lack of follow up after discharge (AOR
=4.2; 95%CI: 1.92-9.15) , no latrine (AOR=2.91; 95% CI: 1.33-6.37), child sickness (AOR =6.55;
95%CI: 2.85-15.02), household dietary diversity (AOR =7.44; 95%CI: 2.58-21.45), type of admission
(AOR =3.98; 95%CI: 1.43-15.07), and no separation of kitchen (AOR =3.42; 95%CI: 1.24-9.45).
Conclusion: This study provided the prevalence of wasting of children 6-59 months following exit from
OTP was very high. So, further research is required to identify and address the cause of wasting after
discharged from OTP program.
