A pre- experimental study to assess the effectiveness of educational intervention on knowledge and practice regarding diarrhea management among mothers of under -five children in under five clinic of sub-district hospital bijbehara, Anantnag, Kashmir

Abstract

Each day thousands of under five children around the world suffer from diarrhea. Diarrhea can cause severe illness and even can lead to death in under five children. As per World Health organization diarrhea is defined as the loose, watery stools that occur more frequently than usual. Diarrhea is usually caused by virus, or sometimes, contaminated food. Less frequently, it can be a sign of another disorder, such as inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome. 40 under five mothers were selected from Sub district hospital Bijbehara, Anantnag Kashmir. Purposive sampling technique was used for selecting the sample. A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data. The findings revealed that among demographic variables most of the subjects were in the age of 25-35 years (60%), (22.5%) of them were in the age group of 18-25 years, and (17.5%) were in the age group of above 35, that pretest knowledge score shows that 5 (12.5%) of the participants had inadequate knowledge. 31 (77.5%) had moderately adequate knowledge and 4(10%) had adequate knowledge. Similarly, post test knowledge score shows that (0%) of the participants had inadequate knowledge, 13(32.5%) had moderately adequate knowledge and 27(67.5%) had adequate knowledge this indicates that mean post test knowledge score 15.25 is higher than the mean pretest 10.93 the obtained t value is 13.557 is significant at p<0.05. The pre test practice score shows that 295%) had of the participants had inadequate knowledge, 28(70%) had moderately adequate knowledge and 10(25%) had adequate knowledge, similarly post test practice shows that none of the participant had inadequate knowledge, 8(20%) had moderately adequate knowledge, and 32(80%) had adequate knowledge. This, indicates that mean post test knowledge score 16.1 is higher than mean pretest practice score 12.23. Of the obtained t value 14.839 is significant at p <0.05.The findings of the study revealed that educational intervention is helpful for the mothers of under five children to manage diarrhea in early stage and its prevention for further complications.