Abstract:
The study determined knowledge and management practices of childhood diarrhoea among childbearing mothers in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State. Ten specific objectives with ten corresponding research questions and eight null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 4,650 registered childbearing mothers attending maternal and child health clinics in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State. The sample size was 370 childbearing mothers attending MCH clinics in Nsukka LGA drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. A Structured Knowledge and Management Practices of Childhood Diarrhoea Questionnaire (KMPCHDQ) served as the instrument for data collection. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze and answer the research questions while chi-square (χ2) statistics at .05 level of significance was used to test the null hypotheses. The results of the study revealed that overall, 69.7 per cent of childbearing mothers possessed high knowledge of childhood diarrhoea. Also, majority (92.2%) of childbearing mothers indicated adopting the conventional management practices for childhood diarrhoea. There were significant differences in the proportion of childbearing mothers knowledge of childhood diarhoea based on maternal education, parity and marital status (p<.05). There was no significant difference in the proportion of childbearing mothers knowledge of childhood diarrhoea based on maternal age (p >.05). There were significant differences in the management practices of childhood diarrhoea adopted by childbearing mothers based on maternal education, maternal age and marital status (p < .05). There was no significant difference in the management practices of childhood diarrhoea adopted by childbearing mothers based on parity (p >.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that health professionals should increase awareness and sensitization about childhood diarrhoea for childbearing mothers through antennal and postnatal services.
