Caregivers' knowledge, attitude and practices towards management of diarrhoea among children below 5 years in Luwero district

Abstract

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five following acute respiratory infection and is also an important cause of malnutrition. Diarrheal diseases can be caused by numerous pathogens and transmitted through multiple vehicles due to poor hygiene practices. Persons living in developing countries with poor access to safe water, sanitation or hygiene infrastructure have increased risk of exposure to viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens that can cause diarrheal diseases. The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards prevention and management of malnutrition due to diarrhea in children 0 to 59 months in Kibisi village, Luwero district. The study focused on the prevention and management of diarrhea as a measure for malnutrition. The study was a cross sectional study design by knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire involving 200 mothers /caregivers. Data was collected by employing pre-tested interviewer administered knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire. Interviews were done with randomly selected mothers /caregivers. Important findings of this study included the following; health centers were the main source of information about diarrheal management and prevention, more than half of respondents (78%) believed that diarrhea is caused by teething, only 57.5% respondents knew the right dilution of 1 sachet of ORS in 1 liter of safe water and only 36 % of the caregivers sought for medical attention whenever their children had diarrhea. The study recommends more funding to be provided to health centers to improve patient education and counselling programs through purchasing of materials needed, employing more health workers and facilitating outreaches. The study further recommends that more research should be conducted to discover the barriers faced by caregivers in the management and prevention of diarrhea as caregivers were knowledgeable and had good attitudes towards use of Oral Rehydration Solution but its use was still poor