Care giver’s knowledge about childhood diarrheal management in a rural community in south-south Nigeria

This study was designed to determine the knowledge of mothers of under-five children of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and their child feeding/ drug use practices during diarrhea. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 204 mothers of under-five years children in a community in Edo state, using researcher administered structured questionnaires. Data was analyzed using SPSS, with statistical significance set as < 0.05. One hundred and sixty (78.4%) mothers recognized the acronym ‘ORS’ out of which 17 (10.6%) knew the full meaning, 143 (83.3%) knew correctly that ORS provided energy during diarrhea, 128 (80.0%) knew it replaced lost fluids. Seventy-eight (38.2%) mothers acknowledged that children should be given more fluids than usual during diarrhea, 72 (35.3%) more breast milk than usual, and 94 (47.1%), more food than usual. One hundred and twenty (58.8%) mothers were aware that antibiotics may be used during diarrhea. Overall, only 80 (39.2%) mothers were found to have good knowledge of home management of diarrhea. Knowledge was significantly associated with age, marital status, educational status and social class of mothers. Health education should be tailored to address the knowledge gaps of mothers and target women who were more at risk of poor practice. Keywords : Home management, Diarrhea, Child feeding practices