Exploring Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Parents on Diarrhoea

A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted to explore knowledge and practice of parents or guardians on home management of childhood diarrhoea. A structured questionnaire was used to interview parents of children less than five years old who presented to Ekwendeni Mission Hospital for the treatment of childhood diarrhoea and those who visited the underfive’s clinic for growth monitoring and immunizations. Two sampling methods were used in the selection of participants in this study. A consecutive sampling technique was used in selection of parents of children who presented with diarrhoea and a random sampling technique was used to select parents of children who attended the underfive’s clinic. A total of 327 parents or guardians were interviewed using a carefully designed semi structured questionnaire and data was collected from 12th December 2013 to 14th February 2014. Analysis was done using Epi info version 7, a statistical package recommended for health related research. Presentation of results was done using tables and figures.