Effect of Deworming on Health Outcomes among Children Aged 12–59 Months in Tanzania: A Multilevel Mixed Effects Analysis

Introduction: Mass deworming of preschool children is a strategy suggested to prevent soil-transmitted helminth infections in most developing countries. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of data showing the contribution of mass deworming to a child’s nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of deworming on nutritional health outcomes (stunting, underweight, and anemia) in children aged 12 to 59 months.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data extracted from the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) 2015-16 data was carried out. A total of 7,962 children were included in this study. A multilevel logistic regression was used at a 5% level of significance to determine the individual- and community-level determinants of deworming on health outcomes among children.

Results: The prevalence of underweight (62.6%), stunting (61.0%), and anemia (61.8%) was higher in children who were not dewormed than those who were dewormed. Female children were more likely to suffer from poor health outcomes (OR = 1.01 and 95% CI = 0.95–1.07) than male children. Children aged 24–35 months and 36–47 months were significantly less likely to suffer from poor health outcomes (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.82–0.97 and OR = 0.88; 96% CI = 0.81–0.96, respectively; p < 0.01 ). Children from households with unimproved toilets (OR = 1.38 and 95% CI = 1.25–1.52), unimproved water sources (OR = 1.08 and 95% CI = 1.01–1.16), and living in rural areas (OR = 1.02 and 95% CI = 0.91–1.14) had higher odds for poor health outcomes.

Conclusion: Deworming may be an effective technique for preventing poor health outcomes in children and the risks associated with them, such as poor growth and development.