Determinants of zinc utilisation in the management of diarrhoea among under-five children in Nigeria: a population-based, cross-sectional study

Background Diarrhoea remains the foremost cause of sickness and death among children aged <5 y (under-five) in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO and UNICEF recommend that any child with diarrhoea signs be given zinc tablets as part of the treatment within 24 h. Therefore, we aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of zinc utilisation for diarrhoea among under-five children in Nigeria. Methods The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018 was used for this study. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 25.0. A multilevel analysis technique employing the generalised linear mixed model was used for analysing the data of 3956 under-five children with diarrhoea. Results Only 29.1% of children who experienced diarrhoea received zinc combined with other forms of treatments during the diarrhoea episode. However, mothers with a secondary or higher level of education had a 40% higher likelihood of zinc utilisation during childhood diarrhoea (AOR, 1.40; 95% CI 1.05 to 2.22). Similarly, children whose mothers were exposed to media were more likely to receive zinc during diarrhoea than those whose mothers were not (AOR, 2.50; 95% CI 1.01 to 3.87). Conclusions In this study, the prevalence of zinc use among under-five children with diarrhoea in Nigeria was low. Therefore, appropriate strategies to improve zinc utilisation are needed.