Maternal Knowledge and Practice Regarding Childhood Diarrhea and Diet in Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

Background: Diarrhea infection has been established as one of the major etiologies and risk factors of malnutrition in children. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the maternal knowledge, attitude and practices when treating diarrhea in their children less than 5 years old in the Zahedan, south-east province of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in urban health centers in Zahedan. Three hundred mothers who had less than five years old children and had been referred to the health centers for six months duration had been included. The questions were about demographic characteristics, knowledge and practice regarding childhood diarrhea, and had been designed to obtain information through an interview. Results: The findings indicated that knowledge of the majority of mothers (64.3%) regarding diarrhea and diet was moderate and only 3.7% had good knowledge. The majority of mothers (56%) had a moderate practicing knowledge of diarrhea and diet and only 2.3% had a good practice. Conclusions: Based on the low level of knowledge and practice among the study population, the usual practice of focusing on a target group would be necessary. Our findings indicated a serious lack of competence in dealing with this problem.

Home Management of Childhood Diarrhoea by Mothers Presenting at a Tertiary Hospital in Bangladesh

“…Ghasemi et al found that 28.80% of the caregivers had good knowledge of the home management of diarrhoea 31 . Khalili et al however reported a much lower level of knowledge of caregivers (3.7%) compared to the present study 23 . There was also a low level of prac ces in the home management of diarrhoea among respondents in this study, with 122(33.89%) having a good level of prac ce.…”

“…In a similar study in Iran 52.00% of mothers correctly iden fi ed the cause of diarrhoea 23 . However, similar study in Nigeria revealed that 35.00% of mothers were aware of contaminated In addi on to ORT, the WHO recommends Zinc supplementa on for the treatment of diarrhoea 25 .…”

“…Khalili et al found that 56% of maternal prac ce was moderate and 41.7% had a weak performance and others prac ced appropriately 23 . The methodology of the present study however diff ered from the studies by Okoh et al Ghasemi et al and Khalili et al 9,23,31 . Okoh et al assessed both knowledge and prac ce using 8 ques ons for knowledge and 10 ques ons for prac ce, Ghasemi et al assessed only knowledge of diarrhoea management using a 22 item ques onnaire and Khalili et al assessed both knowledge and prac ce using 10 ques ons each for knowledge and prac ce while the present study assessed both knowledge and prac ce using 11 ques ons for both knowledge and prac ce 9,23,31 . The signifi cant associa on between mothers level of educa on and the level of knowledge and prac ce of the home management of diarrhoea observed in the present study were also observed in other studies 9,23,28,31 .…”

A study on knowledge and practice of mothers of under-five children regarding management of diarrhoea in urban field practice area of MRMC, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, India

“…In a study conducted in south east province of Iran, Khalili, et al reported 81% and 58% mothers acknowledging unsafe water and unclean hands respectively as causes of diarrhoeal illness. 17 Cabatbat, et al in their study conducted in Philippines reports 77%, 34% and 23% mothers acknowledging unsafe drinking water, failure to wash hands after defecating, and after handling faeces respectively as common reasons for diarrhoeal diseases. 15 Surprisingly, in an Indian study conducted earlier, it had been reported just 15% and 6% mothers knowing that dirty water and dirty environment could cause diarrhoea.…”

Awareness of Mothers about Diarrhea; A Cross Sectional Comparative Study Focusing on Consciousness of Diarrhea among Different Socioeconomic Classes in Pakistan

“…Results of another study specified that knowledge of the most of women (64.3%) concerning diarrhea and nutrition was modest and there were only 3.7% had reasonable information [15]. Another study documented the awareness in mothers regarding features of dehydration, 26% mothers were aware about sunken eye as the only clinical feature and 40% mothers reported unclear signs whereas 35% answered two features including thirst and dry skin and there were 80% Mothers who knew about the preparation of ORS [16].…”