Effects of Zinc Supplementation in the Treatment of Acute Watery Diarrhea

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of Zinc supplements in the treatment of acute watery diarrhea among pediatric patients. Study design: Quasi-experimental study Place and duration of study: Department of Pediatrics, Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital, Swat, from October 2024 to March 2025. Methods: A total of 100 children, aged between 6 months to 5 years, reporting with acute watery diarrhea were included in this study. All study participants received standard treatment including oral rehydration solutions and continued their feeding. Elemental zinc was given at a dose of 20 mg/day (as zinc gluconate syrup 5 mg/5 mL). The efficacy of Zinc supplementation was assessed following a 4-day treatment period. The primary outcome was set as the reduction in frequency of diarrheal episode/24 hours and the proportion of patients achieving resolution of watery stools. Paired t-test was used to compare changes in stool frequency before and after Zinc supplementation while McNemar’s test was applied to assess number of patients without watery stools. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of children in this study was 23.76 ±11.58 months (Ranging from 6 months to 56 months). A significant decrease in stool frequency was observed from 6.17±1.23 to 3.4±1.05 after 4 days. Resolution of watery stools was recorded in 28% of the study participants (p˂0.001). Conclusion: Zinc supplementation significantly reduces stool frequency and improves resolution rates of acute watery diarrhea when given as an adjunct to standard treatment in pediatric patients.