HOME-BASED MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF DIARRHEA AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG CAREGIVERS OFUNDER-FIVE YEARSCHILDREN IN KARAT″ZURIA″ WOREDA, SOUTHERNETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Appropriate treatment seeking has a big potential to reduce the occurrence of life-threatening child illnesses including diarrhea. Home-based management can prevent 60% of mortality related to diarrhea. However, malpractices are common and the reason for this is not well known. Objective: To assess home-based management practice of diarrhea and associated factors among caregivers of under-five yearschildren. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among caregivers of under-five yearschildren. Data was collected from 615 respondents through pre-tested structured questionnaires with face to face interview to gather information on their home-based management practice of diarrhea. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. The numbers of caregivers included in the study was determined using proportion to size allocation technique. The study participants were selected from each ″Got″ by simple random sampling. Bi-variate and multivariable logistic regressions analysis was used to identify factors associated with outcome variable. Level of significance was determined at p-value less than 0.05among caregivers of under-five yearschildren in Karat″Zuria″ Woreda, Ethiopia, 2020. Result: The prevalence of good home-based management practice of under-five yearschildrendiarrhea was 51.5% ( 95% CI (49,53)).The multivariable analysis showed that caregivers who were above 35 years old [AOR=3.318, 95% CI (1.582, 6.959)], caregivers who had good knowledge on home-based management of diarrhea [AOR=1.875, 95% CI (1.319, 2.666)], and caregivers who had belief that diarrhea is preventable [AOR= 1.551,95% CI (1.003, 2.397)] were significantly associated with home-based management of diarrhea. Conclusion: More than half of the participants had good practice of home-based management of diarrhea. The level of practice was significantly associated with caregivers age, on the belief of diarrhea which is preventable or not and knowledge level of caregivers. Therefore, it is good to improve the level of knowledge of caregivers about home-based management of diarrhea.