Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) Use as a First Aid Tool in Diarrhoea Management in Children Among Antenatal Attendees in Aba, Abia State

Abstract

Background: Diarrhoeal disease is one of the commonest illnesses that has the greatest negative impact on the growth and development of infants and young children. During a diarrhoeal episode, water and electrolytes (sodium, chloride, potassium and bicarbonate) are lost through liquid stools, vomit, sweat, urine and breathing leading to dehydration.

Objective: This project was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) use as a first aid tool in the management of diarrhea in children among antenatal attendees in Aba.

Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 400 consenting antenatal clients. Multistage cluster sampling was used to select participants for this study. Data was obtained using self-administered pretested questionnaires and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.

Result: Result of this study showed that 55% of respondents first heard about ORS in Antenatal clinic. Of the respondents, 89.9% knew that diarrhoea meant the frequent passage of loose stool. Also 93.1% of respondents knew that ORS is used to manage diarrhoea at home, however, less than half of the respondents (49.9%) correctly knew that ORS is given after each diarrhoea episode. With respect to attitude of respondents to ORS use, 56.3% of respondents strongly agreed that mothers will need to wash their hands before preparing ORS, and 42.9% agreed that ORS is enough as a treatment for diarrhoea. While 49.9% of respondents disagreed to ORS having any side effects, 51.2% of respondents agreed that children dislike the taste of ORS.

Conclusion: This study showed that antenatal attendees in Aba have good knowledge of use of ORS in the management of diarrhoeal disease, though with poor practice of ORS use in the management of diarrhoea. In the assessment of the attitude towards ORS use, less than half of the population believed that ORS was not enough as a treatment for diarrhoea. Factors affecting ORS use included age, educational status, occupation and source of knowledge.