A study on some diarrhoea related practices in urban Mirzapur

Abstract

In an operational research on the improvement of sanitation and water supply by an Indo-Dutch project at Mirzapur, UP, diarrhoeal morbidity was taken as an intermediate outcome variable for measuring the impact of the proposed intervention. In this study 350-410 under-five children were selected from 200 urban families of 3 slums and surveyed during 3 different seasons for 2 weekly recall of morbidity, treatment and feeding practices during diarrhoea. The prevalence of diarrhoea varied between 8.7% to 33%. Breast feeding was not restricted while other forms of feeding was continued in 57.1% to 66.3% of cases. Use of ORT increased significantly from 0% to 39.62% possibly as a result of health education. Reorientation of private practitioners to avoid use of unnecessary drug is suggested.

PIP: In 1988, researchers conducted an operations research study of an improved sanitation and water supply project which included health education in the slums of Sabari, Armanganj, and Katwaru Ka Pura in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh in India to examine diarrhea related practices. Diarrhea prevalence was significantly higher in the rainy season than either the summer or winter months (32.3% vs. 12.9% and 8.65% respectively; p.001). Drugs were used significantly more often in the rainy season (97.65%) than in the winter and summer months (67.86% and 81.63% respectively; p.001). Private practitioners treated most cases of diarrhea regardless of the season (94.1% in rainy season, 53.6% and 75.5% in winter and summer months respectively). On the other hand, government health facilities treated relatively few cases (3.5%, 17.9%, and 0 respectively). Use of home available fluids increased significantly from 0-39.62% (p.001). So did use of oral rehydration packets 2.7-32%; p.001). The researchers accredited this improvement to educational activities. Women tended to continue breastfeeding and giving other foods to children during diarrheal episodes. Nevertheless there was room for improvement. These results revealed the need for educational efforts to encourage caretakers to use home available fluids and oral rehydration solution and to reorient private practitioners to avoid using drugs and to use oral rehydration therapy.