Table 1 Risk factors for malaria infections among children under five in refugee settlements located in Uganda

Demographic and socio-economic risk factors

Age of child, months

 0–15

200 (29.6)

151 (75.5)

49 (24.5)

0.46 (0.29–0.73)

0.0008*

0.49 (0.30–0.82)

0.0061*

 16–30

144 (21.3)

104 (72.2)

40 (27.8)

0.55 (0.34–0.89)

0.0150*

0.59 (0.34–1.01)

0.0462*

 31–45

168 (24.9)

97 (57.7)

71 (42.3)

2.26 (1.45–5.52)

0.0003*

2.14 (1.32–3.47)

0.0021*

 Above 45

163 (24.1)

96 (58.9)

67 (41.1)

2.15 (1.37–3.37)

0.0008*

2.01 (1.22–3.32)

0.0061*

Age of household head, years

 15–24

90 (13.3)

62 (68.9)

28 (31.1)

2.06 (1.63–2.61)

0.0001**

1.74 (1.08–2.79)

0.0219*

 25–34

312 (46.2)

210 (67.3)

102 (32.7)

0.49 (0.38–0.62)

0.0001**

0.57 (0.36–0.92)

0.0219*

 35–44

157 (23.3)

97 (61.8)

60 (38.2)

0.62 (0.45–0.85)

0.0003*

0.68 (0.39–1.17)

0.1660

 45 and above

116 (17.2)

79 (68.1))

37 (31.9)

0.76 (0.46–1.26)

0.2813

–

–

Sex of household head

 Male

268 (39.7)

166 (61.9)

102 (38.1)

1.7 (1.28–2.36)

0.0001**

1.45 (0.98–2.12)

0.0571

 Female

407 (60.3)

282 (69.3)

125 (30.7)

0.57 (0.42–0.78)

0.0001**

0.69 (0.47–1.01)

0.0571

Mother’s educational level

 No education

355 (52.6)

230 (64.8)

125 (35.2)

2.75 (1.42–5.32)

0.0003*

1.35 (0.92–1.96)

0.0205*

 Primary level

264 (39.1)

178(67.4)

86 (32.6)

0.48 (0.37–0.62)

0.0001**

0.74 (0.51–1.08)

0.1116

 Ordinary level

45 (6.7)

33 (73.3)

12 (26.7)

0.36 (0.19–0.70)

0.0002*

0.49 (0.65–3.43)

0.3483

 Advanced level

11 (1.6)

7 (63.6)

4 (36.4)

0.20 (0.18–22.11)

0.5714

–

–

Number of household members

 1–5

197 (29.2)

133 (67.5)

64 (32.5)

1.9 (1.53–2.34)

0.0001**

1.04 (0.68–1.60)

0.8297

 6–10

382 (56.6)

250 (65.4)

132 (34.6)

0.53 (0.43–0.65)

0.0001**

0.72 (0.40–1.30)

0.2802

 Above 10

96 (14.2)

65 (67.7)

31 (32.3)

0.48 (0.31–0.73)

0.0001**

1.38 (0.77–2.49)

0.3949

Household wealth status

 Poor

639 (94.7)

418 (65.4)

221 (34.6)

3.33 (1.34–8.30)

0.0097*

4.23 (1.19–14.94)

0.0251*

 Rich

36 (5.3)

30 (83.3)

6 (16.7)

0.3 (0.12–0.75)

0.0097*

0.24 (0.06–0.83)

0.0251*

Owned livestock, herds

 No

443 (65.6)

294 (66.4)

149 (33.6)

0.66 (0.49–0.89)

0.0008*

0.72 (0.49–1.07)

0.1128

 Yes

232 (34.4)

154 (66.4)

78 (33.6)

1.51 (1.11–2.04)

0.0008*

1.38 (0.93–2.05)

0.1128

Type of cooking fuel used

 Charcoal

97 (14.4)

79 (81.4)

18 (18.6)

0.54 (0.33–0.88)

0.0127*

0.18 (0.04–0.81)

0.0250*

 Firewood

571 (84.6)

362 (63.4)

209 (36.6)

1.85 (1.14–3.00)

0.0113*

2.20 (1.17–4.15)

0.0143*

 Straw/grass

7 (1.0)

3 (42.9)

4 (57.1)

8.43 (4.83–14.73)

0.0001**

2.51 (0.68–9.25)

0.0250*

Environmental malaria risk factors

Source of drinking water

 Open water sources

37 (5.5)

29 (78.4)

8 (21.6)

1.86 (1.01–3.22)

0.0044*

1.22 (0.08–0.59)

0.0029*

 Boreholes

293 (43.4)

199 (66.8)

99 (33.2)

0.55 (0.31–0.98)

0.0046*

2.11 (0.91–4.89)

0.0189*

 Public water taps

290 (43.0)

196 (67.6)

94 (32.4)

0.19 (0.11–0.35)

0.0001**

0.36 (1.01–5.53)

0.0482*

 Water tanks

55 (8.1)

24 (48.0)

26 (52.0)

5.03 (2.83–8.92)

0.0001**

4.47 (1.67–11.93)

0.0029*

Walk time distance to water sources

 0–15 min

337 (49.9)

232 (68.8)

105 (31.2)

2.10 (1.54–2.88)

0.0001**

1.68 (1.11–2.56)

0.0149*

 16–30 min

180 (26.7)

122 (67.8)

58 (32.2)

0.47 (0.35–0.65)

0.0001**

0.77 (0.48–1.23)

0.0817*

 Above 30 min

158 (23.4)

94 (59.5)

64 (40.5)

0.68 (0.49–0.94)

0.0018*

0.59 (0.39–0.90)

0.0149*

Type of toilet facility used

 Pit-latrines with slabs

372 (55.1)

236 (63.4)

136 (36.6)

1.44 (1.03–2.01)

0.0305*

1.48 (1.03–2.13)

0.0332*

 Open pits

270 (40.0)

196 (67.6)

94 (32.4)

8.03 (4.77–13.54)

0.0001**

6.67 (0.47–0.97)

0.0332*

 No toilet/Open defecation

33 (4.9)

16 (48.5)

17 (51.5)

5.58 (3.52–8.83)

0.0001**

3.29 (1.54–7.05)

0.0021*

Main floor materials

 Earth floors

533 (79.0)

345 (64.7)

188 35.3)

0.30 (0.19–0.47)

0.0001**

0.65 (0.33–1.29)

0.2197

 Dung floors

110 (16.3)

77 (70.0)

33 (30.0)

0.38 (0.19–0.76)

0.0057*

0.86 (0.19–3.75)

0.8367

 Cement floors

32 (4.7)

26 (81.3)

6 (18.8)

3.32 (2.11–5.23)

0.0001**

1.79 (0.48–6.68)

0.3873

Main wall materials

 Thatch walls

243 (36.0)

153 (63.5)

88 (36.5)

9.21 (2.44–34.70)

0.0001**

4.50 (0.11–56.00)

0.0109*

 Cardboard walls

16 (2.4)

7 (43.8)

9 (56.3)

3.09 (1.13–8.42)

0.0024*

2.30 (1.39–13.22)

0.0386*

 Bricks with cement walls

16 (2.4)

12 (75.0)

4 (25.0)

0.11 (0.02–0.88)

0.0029*

0.39 (0.07–8.93)

0.5626

 Bricks with mud walls

400 (59.3)

274 (68.5)

126 (31.5)

0.26 (0.09–1.07)

0.0017*

0.64 (0.10–7.83)

0.6374

Main roofing materials

 Thatch roofs

420 (62.2)

264 (62.9)

156 (37.1)

1.47 (1.03–2.09)

0.0033*

2.12 (0.94–4.79)

0.0007*

 Tarpaulin roofs

147 (21.8)

99 (67.3)

48 (32.7)

0.68 (0.48–0.97)

0.0037*

0.47 (0.21–1.07)

0.0007*

 Iron sheet roofs

108 (16.0)

85 (78.7)

23 (21.3)

0.87 (0.53–1.42)

0.5756

–

–

Malaria prevention risk factors

Used mosquito bed-nets

 No

103 (15.3)

63 (61.2)

40 (38.8)

2.89 (2.11–3.95)

0.0001**

1.15 (0.43–3.13)

0.0031*

 Yes

572 (84.7)

385 (67.3)

187 (32.7)

0.35 (0.25–0.47)

0.0001**

0.86 (0.32–2.35)

0.0031*

Sprayed against mosquitoes

 No

673 (99.7)

446 (66.3)

227 (33.7)

3.79 (2.76–5.23)

0.0001**

8.04 (2.47–26.21)

0.0005*

 Yes

2 (0.3)

2 (100.0)

0 (0.0)

0.26 (0.19–0.36)

0.0001**

0.12 (0.04–0.40)

0.0005*

Children slept under ITN

 No

169 (25.0)

108 (63.9)

61 (36.1)

1.76 (1.24–2.50)

0.0017*

1.30 (0.58–2.49)

0.0451*

 All children

376 (55.7)

257 (68.4)

119 (31.6)

0.57 (0.39–0.81)

0.0017*

0.77 (0.34–1.73)

0.0421*

 Some children

127 (18.8)

82 (64.6)

45 (35.4)

2.12 (1.46–3.09)

0.0001**

1.33 (0.69–2.57)

0.3855

Had access to malaria medicine

 No

635 (94.1)

412 (64.9)

223 (35.1)

5.88 (2.03–17.02)

0.0011*

4.84 (1.82–12.84)

0.0016*

 Yes

40 (5.9)

36 (90.0)

4 (10.0)

0.17 (0.06–0.49)

0.0011*

0.21 (0.08–0.55)

0.0016*

Knowledge on the causes of malaria

Mosquito bites

 No

520 (77.0)

347 (66.7)

173 (33.3)

1.45 (1.07–1.97)

0.0155*

1.09 (0.79–1.51)

0.0051*

 Yes

155 (23.0)

101 (65.2)

54 (34.8)

0.69 (0.51–0.93)

0.0155*

0.91 (0.66–1.26)

0.0051*

Eating maize

 No

666 (98.7)

441 (66.2)

225 (33.8)

0.27 (0.19–0.38)

0.0001**

0.34 (0.13–0.89)

0.0276*

 Yes

9 (1.3)

7 (77.8)

2 (22.2)

3.65(2.65–5.00)

0.0001**

2.96 (1.13–7.75)

0.0276*

Eating mangoes

 No

660 (97.8)

436 (66.1)

224 (33.9)

0.29 (0.21–0.39)

0.0001**

0.82 (0.31–2.14)

0.0483*

 Yes

15 (2.2)

12 (80.0)

3 (20.0)

3.46 (2.52–4.75)

0.0001**

1.22 (0.47–3.19)

0.0438*

Stagnant water

 No

639 (94.7)

422 (66.0)

217 (34.0)

1.33 (0.63–2.82)

0.4464

–

–

 Yes

36 (5.3)

26 (72.2)

10 (27.8)

0.75 (0.35–1.58)

0.4464

–

–

Poor hygiene

–

–

 No

613 (90.8)

405 (66.1)

208 (33.9)

1.16 (0.66–2.04)

0.6020

–

–

 Yes

62 (9.2)

43 (69.4)

19 (30.6)

0.86 (0.48–1.51)

0.6020

–

–

Not sleeping under ITNs

–

–

 No

639 (94.7)

424 (66.4)

215 (33.6)

1.01 (0.49–2.07)

0.9691

–

–

 Yes

36 (5.3)

24 (66.7)

12 (33.3)

0.99 (0.48–2.00)

0.9691

–

–

Knowledge on ways to avoid malaria

Malaria can be avoided

 No

99 (14.7)

64 (64.6)

35 (35.4)

2.68 (1.96–3.66)

0.0001**

2.14 (1.29–3.55)

0.0031*

 Yes

576 (85.3)

384 (66.7)

192 (33.3)

0.37 (0.27–0.51)

0.0001**

0.47 (0.28–0.77)

0.0031*

Sleeping under ITNs

 No

619 (91.7)

412 (66.6)

207 (33.4)

1.99 (1.47–2.70)

0.0001**

1.61 (1.16–2.23)

0.0038*

 Yes

56 (8.3)

36 (64.3)

20 (35.7)

0.50 (0.37–0.68)

0.0001**

0.62 (0.45–0.86)

0.0038*

Using mosquito repellents

 No

672 (99.6)

446 (66.4)

226 (33.6)

1.01 (0.09–11.24)

0.9913

–

–

 Yes

3 (0.4)

2 (66.7)

1 (33.3)

0.99 (0.08–10.90)

0.9913

–

–

Spraying with insecticides

 No

665 (98.5)

439 9 (66.0)

226 (34.0)

4.63 (0.59–36.83)

0.1470

–

–

 Yes

10 (1.5)

9 (90.0)

1 (10.0)

0.22 (0.02–1.71)

0.1470

–

–

Destroying breeding sites

 No

610 (90.4)

395 (64.8)

215 (35.2)

2.40 (1.26–4.59)

0.0080*

1.99 (1.44–2.76)

0.0001*

 Yes

65 (9.6)

53 (81.5

12 (18.5)

0.42 (0.22–0.79)

0.0080*

0.50 (0.36–0.69)

0.0001*