A Cross-Sectional Study to Assess the Knowledge about Prevention and Home Management of Diarrhoea among the Mothers of Under Five Children in an Urban Area of Amritsar, Punjab Kaur Amanpreet1,*, Kaur Harpreet2, Kaur Harpreet3, Devgun Priyanka4 1Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India 2Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India 3Statistician cum Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana 4Prof. & Head, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India *Corresponding Author, Dr Amanpreet Kaur #347, Garden Enclave, GT Road Bypass, Amritsar, Punjab, Mobile: 9646311711, Email: divupari138@gmail.com
Online published on 19 August, 2019. Abstract Background Acute diarrhoeal disease is the leading cause of mortality in children worldwide with the highest burden being in Sub Saharan Africa and in the countries of the World Health Organisation (WHO) South East Asia Region. In India, diarrhoea is the third leading cause of child mortality in India and is responsible for 13% of all deaths annually in children under 5 years of age. Method A community based cross-sectional study was conducted and total of 400 mothers of under-five children were interviewed. The mothers were selected by adopting simple random sampling method. A predesigned & pre tested questionnaire was used to collect the information. House to house survey was done to collect the information. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 20.0. Results Majority of the mothers (72.8%) were in age group of 21–30 years. Out of total 53% knew that diarrhoea is passage of three or more loose stool in a day. Education status of mother has significant relation with the knowledge about diarrhoea and its spread (p=.000). 71.8% knew that it can be managed at home. Out of 400 females 75.7% knew about sugar salt solution can be prepared at home. 73% of the study participants knew that vaccination can prevent diarrhoea. Role of zinc therapy along with the ORS in treating diarrhoea was known to only 32% of the study participants. Conclusions The study concludes that there is a need of health education for mothers about prevention and home management of diarrhoea. Timely management at home can prevent deaths from dehydration caused by diarrhoea. IEC activities should be increased to educate the community about the principles of environmental hygiene. Top Keywords Diarrhoea, under five, prevention, home management. Top |