Knowledge,attitude and practice of mothers with under five children on the use of chlorine in water treatment in lusaka urban district.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers with under five children on the use of chlorine in water treatment in Lusaka Urban District. The literature review was discussed under global, regional and national perspectives. From the studies reviewed, it has been shown that people may know about the use of chlorine in water treatment but they may not use it for several reasons. This may have contributed to the high incidences of diarrheoa among the under five children. A descriptive non experimental study design was used which had both qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The study was conducted in September to October 2006. A multi stage random sampling was used to come up with a sample of 60 mothers with under five children. The study was conducted at growth monitoring points in Mtendere, Kanyama and Chilenje clinics in Lusaka Urban District. The study findings were that 62% of the respondents had high knowledge, 36%had medium knowledge and 2% had low knowledge. Ninety percent (90%) of the respondents had positive attitude and 10% had negative attitude. Seventy five percent (75%) of the respondents had good practice while 25% had poor practice. Overall, only 37% of the respondents added correct amount of chlorine to the right container of water. Furthermore, the study findings also indicated that the knowledge, attitude and practice of the respondents on the use of chlorine for water treatment were largely influenced by peer pressure, forgetfulness, illiteracy, misconceptions and educational level. To a smaller extent, inadequate income and shortages of chlorine had an influence on the knowledge, attitude and practice.