A POPULATION BASED STUDY OF ACUTE DIARRHOEA AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY

Dr.Rashmi Vishwakarma; Dr. Gulab Chandra Gautam

Volume : X, Issue : I, January - 2020

A POPULATION BASED STUDY OF ACUTE DIARRHOEA AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY

Dr. Rashmi Vishwakarma, Dr. Gulab Chandra Gautam

Abstract :

Aim of the study To estimate the prevalence of acute diarrhoea in children under 5 years in a rural population and to study the different modalities of treatment adopted by the caregivers. Methodology This was a population based study in which a total of three hundred under 5 children having acute diarrhoea at the time of interview or had acute diarrhoea in the preceding 2 weeks were included. Details of acute diarrhoea and treatment modalities were obtained among the respondents of under 5 children.A per–test questionnaire was used as a data collection tool and face to face interviews were conducted.All the data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 22 software.Chi square/Fisher Extract/Student t test and ANOVA test has been used. Results The prevalence of Acute diarrhoea was found to be 30.5% (95% CI 19.4% – 38.5%). The prevalence of acute diarrhoea among males and females were 31.4% and 29.8% respectively. Children in the age group 7–12 months had the highest prevalence of diarrhoea to the extent of 43.5% followed by the age group 13–24 months, 0–6 months and group 25 months.Oral Rehydration Therapy use rate was found to be 67.6% (95% CI 56.5 – 76.9). There was no marked difference in ORT use among male and female children. Conclusion The prevalence of acute diarrhoea among under 5 children was found to be 30.5 % and the most vulnerable age group was 7–12 months which corresponds to the time of weaning. The ORT use rate was found to be 67.2% much higher than other studies. The ORT use rate was higher among literate mother.