Acute diarrhoeal disorders among pre-school children in the estate population of two selected estates in Hunnasgiriya in the Kandy District

Abstract

The objective was to find the prevalence of acute diarrhoeal disorders among children aged 2-5 years in the estate population and to study the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding acute diarrhoeal disorders and to describe some socio-economic factors of these families. There was a significant difference in knowledge regarding " Jeewani" between literate and illiterate mothers and also between mothers with formal and mothers with no formal education. There was a significant difference in practices in dealing with acute diarrhoeal disorders between literate and illiterate mothers at P=0.05 level. Majority of mothers restricted food during diarrhoeal episodes. Inability to generalize the results of this study to the overall estate population of Sri Lanka is a limitation of this study