Mothers' traditional customs and beliefs regarding diarrhoea in children who are admitted to University teaching hospital.

Abstract

The study was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital. It aimed at determining the mothers’ traditional customs and beliefs regarding diarrhoea in children and the parameters they use in deciding whether to bring the children to the hospital or not. Literature review was based on traditional customs and beliefs regarding causes and treatment of diarrhoea in Zambia and other countries and on child rearing practices. Observation and experience have shown that despite modern treatment and health education emphasis on prevention and control of diarrhoea, the morbidity and mortality rates of diarrhoea in children admitted to University Teaching Hospital has not declined. This has an economic constraint on the family and nation as a whole. The study is descriptive in nature. Data were collected by interviewing forty (40) Zambian mothers whose children were aged between six (6) to twenty-four (24) months and were admitted to University Teaching Hospital. The findings revealed that most mothers both young and old had a good understanding of what diarrhoea is and they know some form of traditional customs and beliefs related to causes of the condition in children. Most mothers gave their children some traditional medicine before they brought them to the hospital and most of them knew how this medicine was prepared and its effect on diarrhoea. The findings further revealed that most mothers go to the neighbours, private doctor, and their own mothers or to the traditional healer first when their children have diarrhoea. Most mothers said they brought their children to the hospital when the condition did not improve after administering other medicines.