ABSTRACT
Background: Persistent diarrhoea has a variety of infectious and non-infectious etiology and it seriously affects the growth and development of children. The objective of the is to the identify the knowledge and practices prevalent amongst caregivers of children to understand environmental and behavioral risk factors and their interactions associated with the disease and its management.Methods: It is a hospital based cross-sectional study which included 70 children in the age group 6 months-12 years admitted in a tertiary care center at Bhopal over a period of one year with complaints of loose stools lasting for more than 14 days. A pre-tested questionnaire was used as a data collection tool for face-to-face interviews with the mothers or caretakers of the cases. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS Version 20; Chicago Inc., USA). Data comparison was done by applying specific statistical tests to find out the statistical significance of the comparisons.Results: Most of children's mother were Illiterate, 27.1% were educated till primary school and only 5.7% were graduate. Out of 70 cases, most of 51(72.8%) were have understanding that drinking untreated water is a risk factor, only 11(15.7%) understands the value of filtered water and 8(11.4%) know the importance of doing boiling. Most of 46(65.7%) were using open field for sanitation and only 11(15.7%) were using toilets at home. 42(60.0%) were having the habit of hand washing before taking meal.'Conclusions: Community education about the prevention and management of diarrhoea will reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with persistent diarrhoea.