A survey of mothers' knowledge about childhood diarrhoea and its management among a marginalised community of Morang, Nepal.

BACKGROUND Diarrhoea, a common disease, is one of the major determinants of childhood morbidity and mortality in Nepal. METHOD This cross-sectional survey used a self-designed and pretested structured questionnaire to gather data on mothers' knowledge about childhood diarrhoea. The study was conducted in the Morang district of Nepal from June to August 2010. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Testing for significant difference and correlation of mothers' knowledge about diarrhoea with demographic factors were performed by using Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman's rank correlation at an alpha level of 0.05. RESULTS Mothers had some basic knowledge about the prevention of diarrhoea, and fluids/foods which can or cannot be given during bouts of diarrhoea. Knowledge about signs of dehydration was poor. None of the mothers were able to mention all the steps for correct and complete preparation of oral rehydration salt (ORS) and salt-sugar-water (SSW) solutions. Only 8.5% of the mothers stated that the purpose of giving ORS solution during diarrhoea is to prevent the child from getting dehydrated. CONCLUSION Knowledge about signs of dehydration and the management approaches of diarrhoea at home was poor. Thus, there is a need for public health educational interventions.