Mm. Ibrahim et al., DIARRHEA AMONG CHILDREN IN RURAL SOMALIA - MATERNAL PERCEPTIONS, MANAGEMENT AND MORTALITY, Annals of tropical paediatrics, 14(3), 1994, pp. 215-222
Diarrhoea was the second most common symptom of disease in a longitudi
nal study of 431 children under 5 years of age in rural Somalia. Most
mothers perceived diarrhoea as a condition in which oral rehydration t
herapy (ORT) and feeding were logical parts of its management. During
1 year of observation, ORT was used in the household in one-third of t
he episodes of diarrhoea, mostly by non-farming, young and literate mo
thers. Infants were treated more often than older children, as were al
so children in smaller households. In a 3-year demographic surveillanc
e in the same area (1219 person years), the under-5 mortality from dia
rrhoea in children of literate and illiterate mothers was 43 per 1000
(95% CI 0-84) and 93 per 1000 (95% CI 60-101), respectively. The findi
ngs suggest that the use of ORT is associated with a mother's ability
to allocate time to health care and her general position in the househ
old.