Vitamin a Supplementation Status and Associated Factors Among Children Aged 6 to 59 Months at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Vitamin A supplementation has been shown to reduce risk of death in under 5 children by about 23%-30% .Guaranteeing a high coverage of supplementation is therefore critical, not only to eliminating vitamin A deficiency as a public health problem but also as a central elements of the child survival agenda. The purpose of this study was to assess vitamin A supplementationstatus and associated factors among children 6-59 months of age at Akaki Kality sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was applied among children 6-59 months of age in Akaki Kality sub city from23rd of March to 15th of April, 2021. A multi-stage sampling, followed by a systematic sampling technique was employed to select study participants. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with vitamin A supplementation. The adjusted odds ratio with a 95 % confidence interval was computed to assess the strength of the association, and variables with a p-value of less than 0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered as statistically significant. Result: The result revealed that vitamin A supplementation coverage among children age 6 to 59 months was 59.5%.Women educational status (AOR=5.590; 95%CI: 2.179-14.343), household monthly income (AOR=0.322; 95% CI: 0.163-0.637), having information about VAS (AOR=5.811; 95% CI: 3.448-9.794) and child age (AOR=0.286; 95% CI: 0.133-0.613)were statistical significantly associated (p-value less than 0.05) with vitamin A coverage. Conclusion: The vitamin A supplementation coverage in the study area was low which is far from the expected national target. Women education and monthly income were positively associated, but the children age was inversely associated with vitamin A coverage. Hence, different effort has to be applied like awareness creation through community education and improving socio-economic status of the community to enhance the coverage of vitamin A supplementation coverage.