Knowledge and attitude of mothers of children who were referred to Bandar Abbas pediatric hospital about acute diarrhea

Introduction: Acute diarrhea is one of the most prevalent diseases of childhood and the second leading cause of death in under five children in developing countries. Appropriate practices and awareness of mothers not only has an important role in home management of acute watery diarrhea but also is cost consuming. This study is aimed at determination of awareness and practices of mothers of under five children regarding home management of acute watery diarrhea. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, a total of 300 mothers of under five children of Bandar Abbas city who referred to outpatient clinic of children hospital were randomly selected in 2002. The results were analyzed using t-test and Chi-Square test and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Only 31.33% of mothers had good awareness. Mothers with higher degree of education had higher awareness (p=0.000). Mothers who had one or two children and younger mothers (less than 35) had higher awareness than others with four or more children and older ones (35 or more) (p=0.04 and p=0.000, respectively). 74.3% of mothers were practice in preparation and use of ORS but 6.7% of them could not tell the correct method of its preparation, reservation and use. Conclusion: Health education about home management of acute watery diarrhea to mothers is recommended. &nbsp;