ABSTRACT Acute diarrhea is defined as the passage of three or more than three loose or watery stool in 24 hours, or passage of one or more bloody stool. Acute diarrhea refers to illness not lasting longer than 14 days. The study was conducted in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. A total of 306 eligible caregivers of children were selected. The researcher used Fisher et al formula to determine sample size. The sampling procedure was chosen because it gave every respondent a chance to participate in the study so as to avoid bias. The researcher will use 60 pieces of papers, 30 written on “Yes” and 30 “No” and only those respondents who picked the yes papers will be included in the study. Results on the knowledge of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea showed that most of the respondents (49.0%) mentioned contaminated water as the main cause of diarrhoea, (91.5%) said that they have ever heard about ORS, (65.3%) heard about ORS from the drug shops, (62.1%) stated that ORS is useful in the management of diarrhoea and majority (71.9%) said that diarrhoea can be prevented by hand washing. Regarding attitudes of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea, the highest number (65.3%) disagreed that diarrhoea is an infectious disease, (81.7%) feel it’s easy to access ORS, all the respondents (100%) said they take it easy when the child has reduced urine output during diarrhoea and the overwhelming number (68.6%) feel some food can prevent diarrhoea. Concerning practices of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea, majority of the respondents (65.3%) always give their children antidiarrheal during diarrhoea, (49.0%) mentioned western medicine as system of medication they prefer to use for their children during diarrhoea, most of the respondents (81.7%) don’t make the home-made ORS at home and most of the respondents (39.2%) give their children much less than the usual amount of food to eat. The government together with its development partners should conduct mass community sensitization to narrow the knowledge gap among caregivers which will help to influence the attitude of theme thus positive practices towards diarrhea management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION.........................................................................................................................................ii
APPROVAL ...............................................................................................................................................iii
DEDICATION............................................................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................viii
LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................................ix
LIST OF TEXTS.........................................................................................................................................x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS...........................................................................................xi
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS.............................................................................................................xii
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................2
1.1 Background.........................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Problem Statement ..............................................................................................................................4
1.3 Purpose of the objective......................................................................................................................4
1.4 Specific objectives ..............................................................................................................................5
1.5 Research Questions.............................................................................................................................5
1.6 Conceptual framework........................................................................................................................6
1.7 Justification and significance of study ................................................................................................7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................8
2.1 Knowledge of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea....................................................8
2.2 Attitudes of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea .....................................................10
3.3 Practices of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea......................................................11
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY............................................................................................... 16
3.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................16
3.2 Study Design and rationale .........................................................................................................16
3.3 Study setting and Rationale.........................................................................................................16
3.4 Study population .........................................................................................................................17
3.4.1 Sample size determination ..................................................................................................17
3.4.2 Sampling Procedure ............................................................................................................17
3.4.3 Inclusion Criteria................................................................................................................18
3.4.4 Exclusion criteria ................................................................................................................18
3.5 Definition of variables ................................................................................................................18
vii
Independent variables .........................................................................................................................18
Dependent variables............................................................................................................................18
3.6 Research Instrument....................................................................................................................18
3.7 Data Collection Procedure ..........................................................................................................19
3.7.1 Data Management ...............................................................................................................19
3.7.2 Data Analysis and Presentation...........................................................................................19
3.8 Ethical Consideration..................................................................................................................19
3.9 Limitations of the Study..............................................................................................................20
3.10 Dissemination of results..........................................................................................................20
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION........................................................ 21
4.0 Introduction.................................................................................................................................21
4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents.....................................................................21
4.2 Knowledge of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea............................................22
4.3 Attitudes of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea ...............................................24
4.4 Practices of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea................................................26
CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................................................................................................... 30
5.0 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................30
5.1 Discussion ...................................................................................................................................30
5.1.1 Knowledge of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea....................................30
5.1.2 Attitudes of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea .......................................32
5.1.3 Practices of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea........................................33
5.2 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................36
5.3 Recommendations.......................................................................................................................37
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................... 38
APPENDIX I: CONSENT FORM........................................................................................................... 42
APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE.......................................................................................................43
Section B: Knowledge of caregivers towards management of acute diarrhoea ......................................45
9. What is the meaning of diarrhoea? .................................................................................................45
APPENDIX III: MAP OF JINJA DISTRICT SHOWING JINJA HOSPITAL................................. 50
APPENDIX IV: MAP OF UGANDA SHOWING JINJA DISTRICT................................................. 51
