Effect of health education on knowledge of home management of diarrhoea amongst caregivers of under-five children in Yenagoa, Nigeria

Introduction: low knowledge level of diarrhoea treatment, and appropriate use of oral rehydration therapy by caregivers, has been attributed to delay in commencing home management of diarrhoea. This delay in commencing home treatment; has led to preventable loss of lives arising from complications of diarrhoea, occasioned by lack of knowledge. Health education has been shown to help reduce delays in the commencement of home management of diarrhoea. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge of home management of diarrhoea among caregivers of under-fives in Yenagoa Bayelsa State and determine if educational intervention impacted knowledge of diarrhoea management among them. Methods: a quasi-experimental study which involved an intervention (given health education) and a control (not given health education) group. Using a non-probability convenience sampling technique, 220 participants were recruited. Informed consent was obtained from the participants, after which a 25-item knowledge-assessing structured questionnaire was administered to the participants in both groups to assess their background knowledge of diarrhoea and its home management. Thereafter, only the intervention group was trained using a training guide. At the second contact (one month later), the knowledge of participants of both groups was re-assessed with the 25-item knowledge-assessing structured questionnaire. Responses were scored and then converted to percentages, participants with 70% and above, 50 - 69%, and below 50% were considered to have 'good', 'fair' and 'poor' level of knowledge; this was compared pre- and post-intervention. Results: at first contact, the knowledge of home management of diarrhoea among the participants was poor in both groups (intervention 9.1%, control 8.2%). However, there was a significant improvement in the knowledge of home management of diarrhoea among those in the intervention group compared to the control group (intervention 95.5%, control 7.3%) (p=0.001), at second contact.Conclusion: the study shows that health education interventions are effective in strengthening diarrhoea literacy among caregivers of children less than five years of age. Public enlightenment through regular health education of caregivers and the use of mass media is recommended.