Abstract:
Background: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in under-five children of
Ethiopia. Millions of young lives could be saved if mothers know and practice the three rules
of diarrhea management: giving extra fluid (particularly ORS), zinc and giving additional
food during diarrhea illness. But, caregivers still prefer alternative treatment than ORS &zinc.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine mothers/caregivers‟ Knowledge,
Practice and associated factors towards ORS with zinc to treat diarrhea among under-five
children in Burayu Town, Oromia Region, Ethiopia, 2021.
Methods: A Community based cross sectional study was conducted among 422 study
participants from September 25 to October 10, 2022; in Burayu town Administration.
Systematic random sampling technique was used to enroll study subject in two randomly
selected kebeles. Interviewer administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data.
Data was entered into Epi-info version 3.5.1 and exported to SPSS Version 21 for analysis.
Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed. Odds ratio of
explanatory variables with 95% CI was used to declare association at P-value of < 0.05.
Result: The finding showed that 59 % and 52 % of the respondents had good knowledge and
practice towards ORS with Zinc respectively. Independent predictors such as Being
housewives[AOR=0.407,95%CI:.195,.848], attainment of primary education [AOR=3.246,
95%CI:[1.614,6.530], secondary education[AOR=2.753,95%CI:[1.226,6.181], above
secondary education[AOR=6.995:95%CI:[3.288,14.883], getting income of
>4000[AOR=5.132,95%CI[1.947,13.524], behavior of not taking action for health seeking
during diarrhea episodes[AOR=0.369, 95%CI:[0.139,0.979], and health seeking behavior to
government health facility[AOR=3.92, 95%CI [1.772,8.671], being divorced[AOR=0.275,
95%CI:[0.09,0.842] were found to be significantly associated with knowledge towards
management of diarrhea with ORS and zinc. Also, Housewives in occupation [AOR=0.084,
95%CI: [0.029, 0.243], secondary and above educated [AOR=6.26:95%CI: [1.51, 25.86],
taken to government health facility for health seeking [AOR=6.885,95%CI: [2.29, 20.67]
,having good knowledge [AOR=22.14,95%CI:[ 8.44, 58.07] were found to be significantly
associated with practice towards management of diarrhea with ORS and zinc.
Conclusion & Recommendations: Still there is low level of knowledge & practice of
caregivers toward ORS with zinc. Thus, health education and awareness creation for the
mothers/care givers on management of diarrhea is very crucial.
