Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Libyan Mothers Towards Dehydration and Oral Rehydration Salt

الملخص

The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers regarding Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS).
In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a total of 340 Libyan mothers were enrolled by convenience sampling. The study was
conducted in Tripoli city, over a 3-months period, during March-May 2022. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured
questionnaire. The questionnaire asked information about the knowledge of mothers regarding ORS, its availability in the
market, method of preparation, frequency of administration, source of information about ORS and the role of ORS in handling
of diarrhea and dehydration.
Of the total 340 mothers, about 81.2% of respondents were with university education level and 82.05% of mothers belonged
to the middle social class. Only 20% of mothers seemed to have sufficient knowledge pertaining ORS preparation and more
than 75% of participants have adequate knowledge regarding its significance in deal with diarrhea. About 45 % of participated
mothers did not know how to prepare ORS and 53.82 % of mothers did know how to use ORS properly. Information associated
with the accessibility of ORS in the market was found to be accurate among 30.88% of mothers. Most of mothers got information
about ORS from heath care provider and less than 10% of mothers were from their mothers and relatives.
Conclusion: Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding ORS were found to be not fully satisfactory among Libyan women. A
health care education program towards importance of ORS is highly recommended.