Awareness of mothers regarding concept and management of diarrhea in children of Kasur

Aim: to assess mothers' knowledge of diarrhea and practices in management of diarrhea in children. study design: cross sectional descriptive study place and duration of study: bhatti international teaching hospital kasur and central park teaching hospital both affiliated with central park medical college lahore from june 2016 to july 2016. methodology: a proforma containing the questions was designed aiming to know about the understanding of mothers about diarrhea. mothers presented with their babies suffering from diarrhea were questioned by pre-instructed junior doctors to take best answer. all mothers willing to answer were included in study. results were obtained in the form of mean,median,mode and average by using spss 23 and presented in tables and graphs. results: a total of 95 mothers presented with 48(50.5%) boys and 47(49.5%) girls. majority 64(67.4%) were from low socioeconomic group. median age of patients was 1.6 years. mothers between 20-30 years were 71(75%),more than 30 years were 18(18.9%) and only 6(6.3%) mothers were below the age of 20 years. 73(76.8%) mothers knew correctly about ors preparation,16(16.8%) incorrectly while 6(6.3%) didn't know how to prepare ors. 49(51.6%) mothers knew incorrect amount while 37(38.9%) knew correct amount to be given after each loose motion. majority of the mothers 41(43.2%) were using municipal water,31(32.6%) underground water,19(20%) water filters and 4(4.2%) mothers purchasing it. while 41(43.2%) mothers considered increased number of stools as diarrhea,only 14(14.7%) mothers think diarrhea to the liquid consistency of stools. however 35(36.8%) mothers considered both of the features as diarrhea and 3(3.2%) mothers didn't know what is diarrhea. dirty hands were considered by 27(28.4%) mothers,followed by feeders and water 16(16.8%) and 15(15.8%) as the causative factors,respectively. 64(67.4%) mothers were educated and 31(32.6%) uneducated. out of 95 mothers,82(86.3%) were housewives and 13(13.7%) working women. conclusion: mothers' knowledge regarding various aspects of diarrhea has increased. it is necessary to give awareness about signs of dehydration,quantity of ors to be given and to promote the concept of continued routine feeding during illness. © 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.