Assessment of Knowledge, Practice and Utilaization of Oral Rehayderation Therapy for Acute Watery Diarrhoeal Disease Case Management Among Mothers (CAREGIVERS’) of Under-Five Children in Assela Town, Ethiopia

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Date

2015-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Rehydration therapy was a critical intervention to save the lives of children during the episodes of diarrhea. However, millions of children die every year due to failure to replace fluid effectively. Globally, diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of death. It estimates 1.87 million each year, accounting for approximately 19% among children of under- five. Most of these deaths are due to dehydration and mismanagement or delayed management of the disease. Therefore the mothers’ knowledge in management of diarrhea is likely related to its mortality and morbidity. Nearly all dehydration-related deaths can be preventable by prompt administration of rehydration therapy. ORT is simple, inexpensive and the most effective way to treat dehydration. It can be easily administered at home by the mother /care givers as soon as diarrhea episode begins. Universal use of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhea could prevent almost 1.5 million deaths per year, or 15% of all under-five deaths. Objective: to assess the knowledge, practice of mothers (caregivers) towards ORS utilization for under-five children with acute diarrheal disease in Assela town. Method: Community based quantitative cross-sectional study were conducted from March to April, 2015. A convenient sampling technique was used to select 390 households that had under- five children with acute watery diarrhea two weeks prior to study. Data were collected using pre- tested structured questionnaire by trained data collectors. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportion) were used to describe the study population in relation to relevant variables Sample size – Data were obtained from 390 care givers yielding a response rate 100% Sampling Result The study finding revealed that out of 390 caregivers 182 (46.7%) had good knowledge about ORS utilization for acute watery diarrheal disease case management while, 208 (53.3%) of care givers had poor knowledge. In other hand 41 (10.5%) of care givers had good practice on case management while, 349 (89.5%) of care givers had poor practice to manage the disease. Conclusion: The present study concludes that mothers had knowledge in the management of diarrhea. However, several gap existed between knowledge and practice of mothers in managing the disease. The high knowledge revealed in this study had not influenced the practice of mothers in managing the disease. Thus, there is a need for public health educational interventions. Keywords: Knowledge; Practice; ORS; Mother; Under-five Children; Manageme

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Keywords

Knowledge, Practice, ORS, Mother, Under-five Children

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