Assessment of knowledge of management of childhood diarrhoea among exclusively breastfeeding mothers in Oyo State, Nigeria

Background: Over the years, Oral rehydration solution [ORS] and zinc supplementation have proven to be simple and effective interventions for diarrhoea management. ORS usage ensures an estimated risk reduction of mortality due to childhood diarrhoea mortality by 93%, and zinc supplementation also reduce the duration of diarrhoea, and lowers the risk of persistent diarrhoea. Significantly low utilisation of ORS and zinc in the management of childhood diarrhoea has been reported among mothers practicing exclusive breastfeeding. Objective: The study thus assessed knowledge of management of childhood diarrhoea among exclusively breastfeeding mothers in Oyo State. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in six local government areas of Oyo State. Three hundred mothers were recruited from 18 health facilities using cluster sampling through a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The primary outcome variable was knowledge of management of childhood diarrhoea using ORS/SSS or zinc among exclusively breastfeeding mothers. All hypotheses were tested at 5% level of significance. Results: About 65% of the mothers practising exclusive breastfeeding had good knowledge of childhood diarrhoea management. Mothers aged 25–34 years and 35–46 years had better [AOR = 2.84; 95% CI (AOR) = 1.42, 5.67] and [AOR = 3.0; 95% CI (AOR) = 1.25, 7.22] knowledge of management of childhood diarrhoea compared to the younger mothers who were less than 24 years. Mothers with a tertiary level of education had better [AOR = 5.42; 95% CI (AOR) = 1.68–17.45] knowledge of management of childhood diarrhoea compared to mothers with no formal education. Knowledge of management was lower [AOR = 0.46; 95% CI (AOR) = 0.24, 0.89] among mothers who reported their children had diarrhoea within the first six months of life compared to those whose children had no diarrhoea. Conclusions: Knowledge about management of diarrhoea among breastfeeding mothers was high and predicted by age, educational status, and child diarrhoea status within the first 6 months of life. Interventions could consider the observed factors.