“EFFECTIVENESS OF HEALTH EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF DIARRHEA AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN IN THE SELECTED RURAL AREA OF JHANSI”- A CROSS-SECTIONAL HUMAN STUDY

Background: Among children under the age of five in the developing world, diarrheal disease is one of the two leading causes of death among those under five. The availability of information on the prevalence of diarrhoea and its associated risk factors in the Bundelkhand region is limited.

A community-based study was undertaken with the objective to determine the effectiveness of a health education programme on the knowledge regarding diarrhoea prevention and management among 60 mothers of under five children in selected rural areas of Jhansi.

Methods: A pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test was used to in the current study. A structured questionnaire was used to assess participants' knowledge of diarrhoea prevention and management.

Results: The study's findings indicated that the majority of mothers had insufficient knowledge of diarrhoea prevention and management (46.66 percent), moderate knowledge of diarrhoea prevention and management (23.33 percent), and none had adequate knowledge of diarrhoea prevention and management. The fact that the mean post-test knowledge score (19.12) is significantly higher than the mean pre -test knowledge score (11.7) demonstrates the educational program's effectiveness (p0.05). Thus, the study findings strongly suggest that a health education programme is necessary to improve mothers' knowledge and practise, thereby lowering child mortality from dehydration and preventing future occurrences.

Conclusion: The burden of diarrheal disease in the Bundelkhand region is quite high, as is the case in many other parts of the developing world, including India. The study concluded that health education is an effective method for providing knowledge with reference to prevention and management of diarrhoea.