Table 7 Multilevel binary logistic regression results on the environmental predictors of exposure of children to intestinal parasites in the rural settings of the east Dembiya district, northwest Ethiopia, May 2021

Age of children in months

 24–36 months

1.0

1.0

1.0

 37–48 months

2.16 (1.02, 4.58)*

2.18 (1.01, 4.68)*

2.15 (1.01, 4.58)*

 49–59 months

1.46 (0.69, 3.06)

1.63 (0.76, 3.49)

1.45 (0.69, 3.05)

Mothers or care givers kept finger nails short and clean

 Yes

1.0

1.0

1.0

 No

1.93 (1.04, 3.57)*

1.98 (1.07, 3.66)*

1.99 (1.07, 3.69)*

Children kept finger nails short and clean

 Yes

1.0

1.0

1.0

 No

3.15 (1.75, 5.69)***

3.20 (1.77, 5.77)***

3.24 (1.79, 5.85)***

Mouthing of soil contaminated materials

 Yes

2.21 (1.21, 4.02)**

2.31 (1.26, 4.24)**

2.30 (1.26, 4.18)**

 No

1.0

1.0

1.0

Defecation practice of households

 Open field

2.18 (1.18, 4.01)*

2.22 (1.20, 4.10)*

2.31 (1.24, 4.30)**

 Latrine

1.0

1.0

1.0

Animal excreta in the living environment

Yes

1.52 (0.81, 2.83)

1.64 (0.87, 3.11)

1.54 (0.82, 2.88)

 No

1.0

1.0

1.0

Volume of water a family collected per day

  < 20 l/c/d

2.47 (1.18, 5.18)*

2.38 (1.13, 5.01)*

2.52 (1.21, 5.26)*

 \(\ge\) 20 l/c/d

1.0

1.0

1.0

E. coli detected in courtyard soil samples

 Yes

2.52 (1.31, 483)**

2.56 (1.34, 4.90)**

2.48 (1.29, 4.75)**

 No

1.0

1.0

E. coli detected in ready-to-eat food samples

 Yes

3.09 (1.65, 5.79)***

3.21(1.69, 6.09)***

3.17 (1.68, 5.98)***

 No

1.0

1.0

1.0

E. coli detected in drinking water samples

 Yes

2.51 (1.31, 4.80)**

1.88 (0.68, 5.22)

5.30 (1.89, 14.85)**

 No

1.0

1.0

1.0

Vectors observed in the food storage areas

 Yes

1.09 (0.60, 1.98)

1.12 (0.62, 2.03)

1.14 (0.62, 2.07)

 No

1.0

1.0

1.0

Drinking water sources (2nd level predictor)

 Protected

1.0

1.0

1.0

 Unprotected

1.81 (0.37, 8.82)

0.70 (0.22, 2.19)

1.26 (0.26, 5.97)

Drinking water source*E. coli detected in water samples at point of use

 Protected*No

1.0

 Unprotected*Yes

3.83 (1.01, 14.46)*

Random effects

Coefficient variance (SE)

0.15 (0.65)

Community level variance (SE)

2.03 (1.05)

2.35 (1.30)

2.14 (2.24)

2.13 (1.20)

Covariance (SE)

− 0.56 (1.51)

Log-likelihood

58.31 (p < 0.001)

33.36 (p < 0.001)

37.81 (p < 0.001)

29.33 (p < 0.001)

ICC

0.38

0.42

0.04

0.39

AIC

460.71

392.46

392

390.38