Awareness of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) among Mothers of Under-Five Children in Kamala Village, West Bengal, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and aim of the study One of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries is diarrhoea, especially in the case of under-five children (Prüss et al., 2002 and Kosek et al., 2003). Effective home management of acute childhood diarrhoea with oral rehydration salt (ORS) is the immediate and best applicable step under the local circumstances to minimize the morbidity and mortality associated with it, as prevention of diarrhoeal diseases are mostly long-term socio-economic development goals. The overall aim of the present study was to assess the awareness of ORS in order to compensate the dehydration associated with childhood diarrhoea among mothers of under five years old children in Kamala village, West Bengal, India. This in turn would evaluate the effectiveness of relevant national health promotion programmes in specific application to an average Indian society. Materials and Methods A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in a purposively selected village, Kamala. Ethical approval for the study was taken from the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), the University of Sheffield’s Research Ethics Committee; and study approval was taken from the Barjora Block Development Officer, India. A complete census of all the mothers of under-five children within this village was performed. Twenty-four mothers of under-five children were found eligible and were interviewed with a pre-designed, translated (into Bengali) and pre-tested quantitative (structured) questionnaire. The calculations of frequency distributions were performed for descriptive analyses. All socio-demographic variables were categorical. The association of awareness of ORS (dependent variable) with each of the four socio-demographic characteristics (independent variables) was performed with Fisher's exact test (two-sided). Unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) along with their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated in order to determine the strength of the above mentioned associations. Results Eighteen (75%) mothers of under-five children were aware of ORS. Twelve (66.67%) of them knew that boiled water cooled in a clean pot should be used for preparing an ORS solution. Only two (11.11%) mothers knew that one liter of water should be added to a standard packet of ORS. Only four (22.22%) mothers knew that the ORS solution should be used within twentyfour hours of its preparation. Moreover, only four (22.22%) mothers knew that the solution should be administered till a child drinks it after an episode of acute diarrhoea and should not be administered if the child refuses it. Eleven (27%) mothers who were aware of ORS said medical doctors were their source of such information, whereas only six (14%) mothers indicated female health workers (Anganwadi workers) as their source of information. Television and radio as the sources of information were mentioned by eleven (26%) and nine (21%) mothers, respectively. Four (10%) mothers said friends and relatives were their source of information, whereas only one (2%) mother specified newspaper as her source of information. In case of age, fifteen (78.9%) mothers among the “Below 30” group of respondents were aware of ORS compared to three (60%) mothers among the “30 and above” group of respondents. This difference was found to be statistically insignificant (P = 0.57, two-sided Fisher's exact test). In case of education, ten (76.9%) mothers among the “Literate” group of respondents were aware of ORS compared to eight (72.7%) mothers among the “Illiterate” group of respondents. However, the difference was found to be statistically insignificant (P = 1, two-sided Fisher's exact test). In case of occupation, seven (77.8%) mothers among the “Agriculture” group of respondents were aware of ORS compared to eleven (73.3%) mothers among the “Stays at home” group of respondents. This difference was again found to be statistically insignificant (P = 1, two-sided Fisher's exact test). In case of economic status, eleven (78.6%) mothers among the “Not enough” group of respondents were aware of ORS compared to seven (70%) mothers among the “Enough” group of respondents, the difference was found to be statistically insignificant (P = 0.67, two-sided Fisher's exact test). None of the associations between awareness of ORS and four socio-demographic characteristics (age, education, occupation and economic status) were found statistically significant (P > 0.05, two-sided Fisher's exact test). None of the estimated unadjusted odds ratios (and the respective 95% confidence intervals) were found to be statistically significant and thus, there was no difference detected in the odds of awareness of ORS between the two groups of each variable. Hence, no association was detected between awareness of ORS and each of the four socio-demographic characteristics in the present study.