A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Assessment of Caregivers’ Knowledge and Practices Regarding the Prevention and Management of Diarrhea among Children under the Age of Five in Thulamela B Clinics, South Africa

Azwinndini Ndou, Rachel Tsakani Lebese, Takalani Grace Tshitangano and Jessica Uchechi Damian
Additional contact information
Azwinndini Ndou: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Rachel Tsakani Lebese: The Office of the Executive Dean, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Takalani Grace Tshitangano: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Jessica Uchechi Damian: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: Diarrhea is a common cause of child-related hospitalization and mortality among children under the age of five in South Africa. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practices of caregivers regarding prevention and management of diarrhea among children under the age of five in the Thulamela Municipality of South Africa. A quantitative approach using a descriptive cross-sectional survey was used. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data from caregivers at thirty primary health-care facilities using convenient sampling. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 was used to analyze data. Most of the respondents have fair knowledge about diarrhea, oral rehydration therapy/salt sugar solution and its usage during diarrheal episodes. However, most of them (81.7%) do not use the salt sugar solution when their children have diarrhea. Almost all the respondents practice a hand washing hygiene for themselves and their children; 97.2% do not reheat cooked food before feeding their children; 95.5% do not drink untreated water as their source of drinking water is the municipal supply. The practices of these respondents do not reflect their knowledge in terms of the use of oral rehydration solution/salt and sugar solution. Further efforts should be made to educate caregivers on the mode of transmission of diarrheal pathogens.

Keywords: diarrhea; oral rehydration therapy; under 5 mortality; hand washing; hygiene (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9452/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9452/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9452-:d:631018

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().