آگاهي و بيان عملكرد مادران جنوب تهران نسبت به مايع درماني خوراكي در اسهال حاد كودكان كمتر از پنج سال

The Knowledge and Practice of Mothers of the Southern Part of Tehran About Oral Rehydration Therapy in Acute Diarrhea Among Their 5 Years Old Children

Background and Objectives:Each year, 17 million episodes of diarrhea and 517 cases of premature death occur among children under 5 years of age in Iran because of diarrhea and its dehydration. The intravenous therapy is often used for compensation of dehydration though the protocol of WHO is available now. The objective of this study was to measure the knowledge and practice of mothers of the southern part of Tehran about diarrhea in their children. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done on 1262 mothers of children between 6 to 60 months in the southern part of Tehran. We used a cluster and simple random sampling. Data were collected by interviewing with mothers. The results were analyzed using Chi-square test. Results: 64% of children were referred to physician during their last episode of diarrhea. 47% had received antibiotics and 12% intravenous solution. 7% were admitted to hospital. 90% of mothers knew Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and 72% of them had given ORS to their children. 48% of mothers had knowledge about the role of ORS in compensation of dehydration. 45% of mothers knew the accurate amount of water required for a pack of ORS. 60% of mothers lessened or stopped feeding or breast-feeding and only 11% of mothers increased feeding their children. 60% of mothers increased the amount of fluid received by their children. Conclusion: This study showed that the knowledge and practice of mothers about diarrhea were not enough and suitable.