KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDSORAL REHYDRATION SALTIN AYSAITA TOWN, AFAR REGIONAL STATE, NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA

Introduction: Oral rehydration therapy is a life-saving intervention to save the lives of children. However, millions of children die every year due to failure to replace body fluid effectively. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of caretakers towards ORS on the management of diarrhea among under-five children in Aysaita town, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2016. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. The data were cleaned, coded, and entered into EpiData version 3.02 and exported to SPSS version 20 statistical package for analysis. Then descriptive statistics were used to describe the study variables. Results: One hundred seventy-two (72.9%) of the study, children had diarrhea at least once in their lifetime. Two hundred twelve (89.8%) of the caretakers had defined diarrhoea as passing of three or more watery stool. Furthermore, 164 (69.5%) of the care takers knew at least one danger sign of dehydration. Of 172 study children who had diarrhoea at least once in their life time, 157(91.3%) had taken ORS solution. Conclusion: Although the findings of this study showed good attitude, knowledge, and practice regarding oral rehydration salt in Aysaita district, health institutions in the district should strengthen their effort to provide health education and information regarding oral rehydration salt.