Knowledge, attitude and practices of childhood diarrhoea among mothers of children under five years of age: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Diarrhoea by definition is the passage of unusually loose or watery stools, at least three times in a period of 24 hours. However, the consistency is a more reliable indicator of diarrhoea rather than the frequency of stools. 5 Diarrhoea is due to infections caused by a wide range of organisms which include bacteria, viruses and protozoans, such as rotavirus and Escherichia coli. 58% of deaths due to diarrhoea have been attributed to unsafe ABSTRACT Background: Diarrhoea is an important communicable disease which can be prevented by proper hygiene and other simple practical measures. We assessed the knowledge, attitude and practices among mothers regarding childhood diarrhoea in a secondary care hospital in Dimapur, Nagaland. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study conducted over a period of one year including 449 mothers in the age group <45 years with atleast one child under 5 years of age using an interviewer administered, pilot tested, semistructured questionnaire under the following as categories demography, knowledge, attitude and practices. Results: 97.8% had good knowledge regarding causes and prevention of diarrhoea, 65% had good knowledge regarding the management of diarrhoea while 31% mothers had moderate knowledge. 98% mothers had good attitude but only 17.8% had good practice scores. Multivariate regression analysis showed education > class 10 and residence in urban area were significantly associated with good knowledge and education >class 10, age of mothers ≥29 years, employed mothers, family income Rs. ≥28000 were significantly associated with good practice. Conclusions: Good knowledge and attitude regarding diarrhoea prevention and management among our study population did not translate to good practice. These could also be due to the lower knowledge about management of diarrhoea. Widespread prevalence of wrong practices in the community like irrational use of antibiotics could also have resulted in low practice scores. The gaps between knowledge and attitude and practices among the mothers need to be addressed.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Diarrhoea, Home Management and Prevention among Mothers/Care-Givers Attending a Paediatric Outpatient Clinic in Rivers State, Nigeria

“…More than 1/4 th (34.8%) respondents in the present study had good practice on the home management of diarrhoea and prevention as similarly reported in Iraq [21] and Lekoma, [11] Northwest Ethiopia accounting for 39.3% and 37.6% respectively. This was lower than the 42%, 53.1% and 86.5% reported in Diredawa [8] Eastern Ethiopia, Lagos, [10] Nigeria and Dimapur, Nagaland [22] respectively. The low practice level in the present study would also be accounted for by the much higher cut-off value used.…”

“…Similarly, age, level of education as well as occupation, marital status and ethnicity were significantly associated with knowledge also in Ethiopia [8]. In addition, level of education and place of stay were associated with good knowledge in Dimapur, Nagaland [22]. Age, parity, marital status, mother's level of education, father's level of education and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with the attitude towards the management and prevention of diarrhoea.…”

“…More than 2/3 rd (69.6%) respondents had good attitude towards home management and prevention of diarrhoea in under five children in the present study. Positive attitude towards home management of diarrhoea was documented to be 58.2%, 55.8% and 45.1% in Dimapur, Nagaland, [22] Lagos, [10] and Diredawa, [8] Eastern Ethiopia respectively. This difference could be explained by the varying population and geographic regions, cultural differences and level of education in addition to the criteria used for good, fair and poor attitude.…”

“…In the present study 31.1% of the respondents had good knowledge of home management and prevention of diarrhoea which was comparable to the 28.8% and 37.5% reported in Kashan, Iran [37] [8] Eastern Ethiopia respectively. In Dimapur, Nagaland [22] however, a very high knowledge score of 83% was documented. This could be because 93% of the respondents had received formal education and about 3/4 th (75.1%) lived in urban areas.…”

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Mothers on Management of Childhood Diarrhoea Among Children Under Five Years in Al Mukalla City/ Yemen- 2022

“…These findings did not agree with Garg N et al who reported most mothers agreed that immunization can prevent diarrhea. [27].…”