Parental awareness and practices in acute diarrhea.

In 1992, in Srinagar, India, the Pediatric Outpatient Department of the Institute of Medical Sciences interviewed the parents of 1600 infants with acute diarrhea to learn their awareness and practices in infantile diarrhea. The parents were divided into two groups: Group A (physicians, engineers, teachers, professors, lawyers, clerks, and educated business professionals; N = 660) and Group B (all others and uneducated parents; N = 940). Most infants with acute diarrhea were boys (66.2%) and aged 6-9 months (58.7%). Only 15% of all parents knew the definition of diarrhea (3 loose stools/day) with Group B parents being more likely to know it than Group A parents (18.5% vs. 10%; p .001). 81.9% of all parents incorrectly considered frequent stools as constituting diarrhea. The parents considered weaning, maternal diet, and teething to be the major causes of diarrhea (58.1%, 42.5%, and 34.4%, respectively). Group A parents were more likely than Group B parents to report infections (27.4% vs. 9.5%) and formula and dirty feeds (7.6% vs. 2%) to be causes of diarrhea (p .001). Group B parents were more likely have no knowledge about the danger signs of diarrhea than Group A parents (30.2% vs. 9.1%; p .001). Group B parents were more likely to treat infantile diarrhea with antidiarrheal and antispasmodic drugs than Group A parents (77.7% vs. 22.7%; p .001). Group A parents were more likely to use both these drugs and oral rehydration therapy (ORT) than Group B parents (65.2% vs. 7.9%; p .001). Few parents (.6%) administered only ORT. Group A parents were much more likely than Group B parents to know the composition of various ORT brands, reconstitution of the solution, and their utility in diarrhea (65.6% vs. 7.7%; p .001). Group B parents preferred complete dietary restrictions during a diarrheal episode than Group A parents (28.7% vs. 6.2%; p .001). These findings reflect limited parental knowledge about diarrhea and its treatment.