Home Management Of Childhood Diarrhea Disease Among Caregivers

In many third world nations, diarrhea has been the main cause of diseases and fatalities among children. For children under five years old, care provided at home has consistently been the best treatment for acute diarrhea. The number of children visiting pediatric outpatient clinics (POPC) and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) programs with diarrhea and related complications, such as dehydration, has been rising despite health workers' efforts to educate mothers and caregivers on the prevention and management of diarrhea as well as on improving quality of life for children attending these programs. According to this, there has been a rise in the number of kids who have been admitted to the hospital with diarrheal issues as a result of delaying seeking medical attention. 

The goal of the research was to identify Home management of childhood diarrhea disease among caregivers in Benin city,  Edo state. Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used in the investigation. It took place at Benin city,  Edo state. Using Cochran's Formula, a sample size of 345 was determined. Data were gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire and checklist that were delivered by the researcher. With the use of SPSS, descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression analysis were carried out. Results revealed that 67.1% of respondents (n=231) had inadequate practices for managing diarrhea at home, while 52.2% (n=180) had just a little bit of information about it. 

The practice of managing diarrhea at home was significantly correlated with respondent age (2 =7.340, df=1, p=0.00.05, OR=2.4). Moreover, there was a strong correlation between knowledge and practices of diarrhea and treatment of diarrhea (2 =62.413, df=1, p=0.00.05, OR=3.4). In the multiple regression analysis, knowledge (p0.05) remained significant. The study's findings showed that among caregivers of children under five in Benin city,  Edo state, there was a correlation between knowledge and home management of diarrhea and low knowledge and bad practice of treatment of diarrhea. The research advised community health professionals to educate women more about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of diarrhea at home, as well as how to prepare and administer ORS.