Impact of structured educational program on maternal knowledge, attitude, and practice toward diarrhea management in children <5 years age in Anantapur District

Introduction: Maternal knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) toward management and prevention of diarrhea in children <5 years age is essential as it maintains good quality of life by reducing the morbidity and mortality. Aim: A study is designed to assess the KAP of mothers before and after the structured educational program on management of diarrhea in children less the 5 years of age. Settings and Design: Quasi-experimental design without control was preferred to test the effect of education on KAP toward diarrheal management among mothers at a rural secondary care referral hospital situated at resource challenged settings of south India. Subjects and Methods: A total of 384 mothers were enrolled and given education regarding the childhood management and prevention of diarrhea. A prevalidated KAP questionnaire toward management and prevention diarrhea was used to assess maternal KAP levels before and after the structured educational program. Statistical Analysis: Epi-Info-7 statistical software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and proportion were calculated for demographic characteristics. Chi-square test was used to test differences between the pre- and post-intervention KAP levels. Results and Discussion: The majority of women (56.7%) were belonging to the age group of 20–29 years. Among all the participants, nearly 85.4% were illiterate. Most of the women were of lower socioeconomic status (69.7%). There is a significant effect of structured educational program on maternal knowledge (χ2 = 577.2; P < 0.05), attitude (χ2 = 326.3; P < 0.05), and practice (χ2 = 347.3; P < 0.05) toward diarrhea management and prevention. Conclusion: Structured educational program targeting health-care providers and mothers primarily focusing on management and prevention of diarrhea shall improve the clinical outcomes in children