Diarrhoea: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Three Selected Rural Communities in North Central Nigeria

Diarrhoea has been reported to be the second leading course of death among children under-five years of age globally and Nigeria with high poverty index, accounts for an estimated 250,000 deaths per annum. The objectives of this research are to find out the knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers so that behavioral changes of mothers can be encourage for them to follow the best scientific methods of prevention of diarrhoea for children under-5years old and reduce the resultant infant mortality rate. A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitude, and practices of diarrhoea among mothers of under-5 years old children in 3 communities in North central Nigeria. Data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20). P-value was set at ≤ 0.05 and used in cross tabulation using Pearson Chi Square and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Educational level of the mothers was poor, 112(30.1%) had primary education (middle school), 115(30.9%) had secondary education (High school), while 94(25.3%) of the husbands ended their education at primary schools and 76(20.4%) got to secondary school level. Additionally, 342(91.9%) had poor knowledge of diarrhoea, 70.0% had good attitude towards handwashing and only 21.3% treated water before use. Mothers of under-5years old in the three communities investigated had poor knowledge and practice of diarrhoea. However, their positive attitude could be used to increase their knowledge and bridge the gap between knowledge and practice which would be beneficial to the community with the resultant reduction in infant mortality rate.