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Analysis of the space-time trends in open defecation in Nigeria

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Abstract

The practice of open defecation has persistently remained high in Nigeria despite the grave danger it poses to public and environmental health, and the several intervention programs put in place over the years to curtail the ugly practice. This study quantifies the space and time trends in open defecation practice in Nigeria with the aim of highlighting the changes that have taken place at various locations in Nigeria over a 15-year period. A Bayesian spatio-temporal model was applied to cross-section data obtained from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018, and inference was based on integrated nested Laplace approximation technique. The findings indicate a north-south spatio-temporal patterns that are similar among the rural and urban dwellers. States such as Kwara, Kogi, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Enugu, and Ebonyi all of which are neighbors to each other are among those with persistent high prevalence of open defecation in the country. Given the diversity of the Nigerian population groups within the states, a more understanding of the socio-cultural standard of the different communities would be required to implement policies that recognize opportunities to explore, while being culturally responsive to community needs in ending open defecation in Nigeria.

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Data Availability

The data set used for the study is freely available upon request from The DHS Program at www.dhsprogram.com. The code used can be made available to individuals upon reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Statistics, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

    Ezra Gayawan

  2. Department of Educational Research Methodology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Omodolapo Somo-Aina

  3. School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Oluwatosin Kuti

Authors
  1. Ezra Gayawan
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  2. Omodolapo Somo-Aina
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  3. Oluwatosin Kuti
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Contributions

EG and OK conceived the idea, EG curated the data and did the analysis, and EG and OS drafted the article and revised the manuscript. All authors agreed to the content.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ezra Gayawan.

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The study used a secondary data collected as part of the Demographic and Health Survey and available upon request at www.dhsprogram.com.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues.

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Gayawan, E., Somo-Aina, O. & Kuti, O. Analysis of the space-time trends in open defecation in Nigeria. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 68524–68535 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26161-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26161-8

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