Table 4 Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of diarrheal patients at Gondar teaching hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia, October 2006 to March 2007.

Residence

   Urban

50 (29.6)

119 (70.4)

0.013

25 (14.8)

144 (85.2)

0.70

   Rural

90 (41.9)

125 (58.1)

35 (16.3)

180 (83.7)

Source of water

   Pipe

47 (30.7)

106 (69.3)

<0.0001

13 (8.5)

140 (91.5)

0.004

   Well

85 (48.9)

89 (51.1)

38 (21.8)

136 (78.2)

   Spring

8 (14.0)

49 (86.0)

9 (15.8)

48 (84.2)

Availability of toilet

   Yes

66 (32.8)

135 (67.2)

0.122

33 (16.4)

168 (83.6)

0.70

   No

74 (40.4)

109 (59.6)

27 (14.8))

156 (85.2)

Hand washing after latrine

   Regularly with soap

43 (28.7)

107 (71.3)

0.005

24 (16.0)

126 (84.0)

0.90

   Irregularly with soap

89 (44.1)

113 (55.9)

32 (15.8)

170 (84.2)

   Without soap/not at all

8 (25.0)

24 (75.0)

4 (12.5)

28 (87.5)

Level of education

   Illiterate

52 (32.9)

106 (67.1)

0.70

24 (15.2)

134(84.8)

0.51

   Primary school

54(38.8)

85 (61.2)

20(14.4)

119(85.6)

   Secondary school

32 (39.5)

49 (60.5)

16(19.8)

65(80.2)

   Others

2 (33.3)

4 (66.7)

0(0)

6(100)

Appearance of stool

   Watery

105 (37.5)

175 (62.5)

0.70

22 (7.9)

258 (92.1)

< 0.0001

   Dysentery

24 (34.8)

45 (65.2)

30 (43.5)

39 (56.5)

   Mucoid

11 (31.4)

24 (68.6)

8 (22.9)

27 (77.1)

Nausea

   Yes

91 (42.9)

121 (57.1)

0.003

28 (13.2)

184(86.8)

0.20

   No

49 (28.5)

123 (71.5)

32 (18.6)

140(81.4)

Fever

   Yes

28 (39.4)

43 (60.6)

0.60

15 (21.1)

56 (78.9)

0.20

   No

112 (35.8)

201 (64.2)

45 (14.4)

268 (85.6)