ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS TOWARD HOME BASED MANAGEMENT OF DIARRHEA AMONG CARE GIVERS OF CHILDREN ATTENDING UNDER FIVE CLINIC IN WOLKITE TOWN GOVERNMENTAL HEALTH FACILITY, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, 2023

Abstract

Background: Diarrhea is the passage of unusually loose/watery stools, usually at least three times in a 24 hour period. It is the second killer of under five children world widely. Proper home management reduce morbidity and mortality due to diarrhea but still there is a gap. Objective: To assess knowledge, practice and associated factors of home-based management of diarrhea among caregivers of under-five children attending in Wolkite town governmental health facility, Gurage zone, Ethiopia, 2023.Methods and materials: An institutional based Cross sectional study was employed in Wolkite town governmental health facility from May17 to June 18, 2023. By using single proportional formula the sample size of the study was 391. Systematic sampling technique used to select eligible participants’. Interviewer administered questioners used by data collectors using face-to-face interview. Data were entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to statically software package for social science (SPSS) version 25.0 for analysis. Descriptive analyses, invariable and multivariable logistic were done to identify factors that are associated with knowledge and practice of caregivers of under-5 on home-based management of diarrhea .Results: Two third of the respondents had good knowledge and practice. Respondents who were unable to write and read (AOR: 0.036, CI: 0.003, 0.420), Farmers (AOR: 0.049, CI: 0.003, 0.734) and Fathers (AOR: 0.080, CI: 0.01, 0.657), and this with poor health education (AOR: 0.289, CI: 0.98, 0.848) were significantly associated to poor knowledge. Education status (AOR: 0.038, CI: 0.004, 0.397), relation of care giver (AOR: 50.091, CI: 0.015, 0.567), hand washing practice (AOR: 0.103, CI: 0.027, 0.393), water purification (AOR: 0.139, CI: 0.029, 0.670) were significantly associated to practice. Conclusions: Two third ofthe respondents had good knowledge and practice. Educational status, occupation, relation of care giver and health education given about diarrhea were significantly associated with knowledge. Relation of care giver, educational status, hand washing practice and water purification were significantly associated with practice of caregivers. So, it’s important to give health education programs for the care givers