EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WHO-RECOMMENDED COMBINATION THERAPY IN MANAGING DIARRHOEA AMONG UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Diarrhoea is one of the childhood diseases that result to high mortality. Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of the combination treatment regimen of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc supplements for the management of this disease, it effectiveness in treating and preventing the reoccurrence of diarrhoea among the under-five children remains a serious concern. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of WHO combination treatment regimen in the management of diarrhoea amongst under-five children attending Primary Health Care (PHC) centres in Oyo State. The study adopted quasi-experimental of one group Pretest-posttest design. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit a total of 60 eligible participants on admission. The effectiveness of the combination treatment regimen was assessed based on the recovery rate of the participants at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 4 weeks post intervention using a standardized instrument of WHO observational check-list for assessing diarrhoeaic under-five children. Data analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. However, on admission (baseline), majority 52(86.7%) of the participants had moderate diarrhoea. After administering WHO-ORS plus Zinc supplements, 24 hours later, majority 51(85.0%) of the participants had no diarrhoea, two (2) weeks later, during home visiting, majority 56(93.3%) of the participants had no diarrhoea. After Four (4) weeks, significant improvement was also achieved as 57(95.0%) participants had no diarrhoea. It was concluded that the significant improvement in the diarrhoea status in 24 hours, 2 weeks and 4 weeks post intervention was an indication that the combination of WHO-ORS plus zinc suggest how highly efficacious the regimen is in the management of under-five diarrhoea. Hence, Health workers in the PHC should combine the therapy and not using only one in the management of under-five diarrhoea.