Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mothers in the Management of Diarrhoea among Under-five Children in a Rural area of India

BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea is defined as the passage of loose, liquid or watery stools more than three times a day. Though simple and effective treatment measures are available which can markedly reduce diarrhea associated morbidity and mortality, yet in developing countries due to poor diarrhea and Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) related knowledge, diarrhoea still continues to be a major public health problem. The study aimed to estimate the knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers in the management of diarrhoea among under-five children in a rural area of India. METHODS: A Cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers having children below five years of age in rural area of India. Proportionate sampling technique was used to recruit mothers. A pretested, pre designed structured questionnaire was used to obtained the data. RESULTS: A total of 382 mothers were participated in the study. The mean age of study participants was 25.72 +/- 3.98 years. Overall knowledge score showed that (74.6%) three-fourth of the study participants had average knowledge regarding diarrhoeal management. Majority of the mothers (62.6%) showed positive attitude in diarrhoea management. The practice scores showed that nearly half of the study participants (50.3%) had good practice regarding diarrhoea management. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of mothers regarding management of diarrhoea among under-five children was average and most mothers had positive attitude. However, only half of the mothers had