Socio-demographic Determinants of Appropriate Utilization of Oral Rehydration Solution Therapy in Under Five Children with Acute Watery Diarrhoea: A Hospital Based Study

Background:
Acute watery diarrhea (AWD) continues to be a primary cause of
morbidity and mortality in children under five. Oral rehydration
solution (ORS) is a simple and affordable technique demonstrated to
minimize the complications and death associated with dehydration.
Objective:
The effective use of ORS is frequently affected by parental
socio-demographic factors.
Methods:
The cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Paediatrics,
Jalalabad Ragib – Rabeya Medical College Hospital (JRRMCH), Sylhet. All
children under the age of 5 years with AWD admitted to the paediatrics
ward comprised the study population. Among them, a total of 300 children
were selected with purposive sampling. The duration of the study was 6
months. A questionnaire was used to collect data on the sociodemographic
characteristics of the study population, as well as maternal knowledge and
practices regarding oral rehydration solution (ORS) and their impact on
appropriate utilization of ORS were documented.
Results:
Most of the mothers (67%) correctly prepared ORS but only 54.3%
utilized it appropriately. Among the 300 children, most of them belonged
to 1 to 2 years of age group and male children were affected by diarrhoea
more (61.7%), but inappropriate utilization of ORS was also predominant
in male children (p <0.05). Most of the mothers were in 20 to 30 years of
age (75%), resided in rural areas (77%) and were home makers (95.3%).
Parents with higher education and better financial condition were
associated with improved utilization of ORS (p<0.05). Fathers having
business or in service were found utilizing ORS more efficiently than
farmers (p <0.05). Apart from sociodemographic factors, maternal
knowledge regarding ORS also influenced appropriate use of it. More
than 97% of mothers knew about ORS while only 10.7% accurately knew
its purpose of replacing salt and water and this group had used ORS
significantly better than other groups. Approximately half of the mothers
were advised by doctors and good number of them used ORS
appropriately (p<0.05). Only 48 % of mothers knew the preservation time
of ORS. Majority of the mothers (38%) used cup- spoon for providing
ORS to their children, and 75.3% mothers also took ORS along with their
children. Food restriction was also a common practice during
diarrhoealillness including both babies (59.7%) and mothers (45.7%).
Conclusion:
This study showed that most of the mothers were familiar with ORS and its
preparation. There were several factors which influenced the appropriate
utilization of ORS including gender, parental education, monthly income,
source of information and knowledge regarding function of ORS.