A Descriptive study to assess the practice of home remedies for common cold among the mothers of under five children in selected rural area

 

Percis. S

Assistant Professor, P P Savani University, Surat, Gujarat, India.

 

ABSTRACT:

Background of the study: India has a large living tradition in natural products. Nature has contributed significantly to the health of millions in our subcontinent and outside. WHO estimates that 4/5th of the world’s population uses nature for a substantial part of its medicinal and health requirements¹ Objectives: 1. To assess the practice of home remedies for common cold among the mothers of under five children 2. To find the association between practice and demographic variables among the mothers of under five children. Methodology: The study is a quantitative approach and cross sectional research design was adopted for this study. Non probability purposive sampling technique was adopted to this study. In the present study the sample size was 60 under five children’s mother. Data were collected using standardized survey tool from the mothers of under five children prepared by the investigator. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: This study findings show that majority (66.78%) had not practicing home remedies for common cold and least mothers of under five children (33.22%) were practicing home remedies. And also the practice for common cold were followed by Management of common cold 87.50%, Personal and hand Hygiene 68.25% and Food practice 55.13%. Conclusion: The finding of the study shows that the least mothers of under five children were practicing the home remedies for common cold and the majority of them were practicing pharmacological management for common cold.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

India has a large living tradition in natural products. Nature has contributed significantly to the health of millions in our subcontinent and outside. WHO estimates that 4/5th of the world’s population uses nature for a substantial part of its medicinal and health requirements¹. The study area had a total population of 1500 with 250 under five populations. The majority of the population was with low socio- economic status.

 

The rationale for selecting this community is presence of a large number of children less than five years, increased number of cases with URTI and families with low level of education. Globally 10 million children die each year, 2.5 million in India. Acute Respiratory Infections are the second most leading cause of disease for children under five years of age².

 

More than half of the LRTI can be prevented if URTI are promptly taken care at home. Common cold do not need treatment. Ordinary cough do not need any antibiotics³. The simplest form of URTI – the common cold if not treated promptly it can become a problem in babies. URTI can be best treated with home remedies like ginger and Tulsi (Basil)⁴.

 

Mounting evidence suggests that ginger has natural anti- inflammatory properties. Many mothers tend to administer antibiotics for minor ailments, which are costly, not really necessary and also causes drug résistance. The study conducted in Vietnam had revealed that 82% of children having respiratory infections and 91% were treated with antibiotics and 74% of them found to be resistant to pathogens⁵.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1.     To assess the practice of home remedies for common cold among the mothers of under five children.

2.     To find the association between practice and demographic variables among the mothers of under five children.

 

HYPOTHESES:

The hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:

H_1:   There will be significant association between practice and demographic variables among the mothers of under five children.

H₂:   There will be a significant association between using of home remedy methods among the mothers of under five children and demographic variables.

 

METHODOLOGY:

The study is a quantitative approach and cross sectional research design was adopted for this study. Non probability purposive sampling technique was adopted to this study. In the present study the sample size was 60 under five children’s mother. Data were collected using standardized survey tool from the mothers of under five children prepared by the investigator. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

 

Description of the tool:

 The standardized survey tool was prepared, which was consisting the items included the aspects regarding practice of Pharmacological management, home remedies and personal hygiene and other. The standardized survey tool was constructed in two sections:

 

SECTION A:

Includes 11 aspects related to the demographic variables of respondents about age, religion, type of family, Season, father Literacy, mother Literacy, House close to main road, number of People sharing child bedroom, smoker in house, type of fuel used in house, location of kitchen.

 

SECTION B:

It Consists the items included the aspects regarding practice of Pharmacological management, home remedies and personal hygiene and other. The subject are requested to put a tick mark for correct response in the space provided, every correct response is given a score of “1” and every incorrect responses is a given a score of “0”. Reliability of the tool was established by using split half technique which measures the coefficients. The reliability of the split half was marked by using Karl Pearson correlation by deviation method. Finally the tool prepared was reliable.

 

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of demographic characteristics                                                                             N=60

Characteristics	Category	Frequency	Percentage
1.      Age in years of the child	a.      <1year	32	53.3
	b.      1-5years	28	46.6
2.      Religion	a.      Hindu	44	73.3
	b.      Muslim	6	10
	c.      Christian	10	16.6
	d.      Other	0	0
3.      Type of family	a.      Joint	34	56.6
	b.      Nuclear	26	43.3
4.      Season	a.      winter	44	46.6
	b.      others	16	11.5
5.      Fathers literacy	a.      literate	30	25
	b.      Illiterate	30	25
6.      Mothers literacy	a.      literate	11	18.3
	b.      Illiterate	14	23.3
7.      House close to main road	a.      yes	47	78.3
	b.      No	13	21.6
8.      Number of people sharing child bedroom	a.      <3	45	75
	b.      >3	15	25
9.      Smoker in house	a.      Yes	52	86.6
	b.      No	8	13.3
10.   Types of fuel used in house	a.      Non smoky (LPG)	35	58.3
	b.      Smoky	25	41.6
11.   Location of kitchen	a.      Attached to living room	53	88.3
	b.      Not attached to living room	7	11.6

 

According to table-1, age wise distribution of under five children depicts that, the highest (53.3%) percentage of the under five children’s belongs to <1 year of age, followed by 73.3% were belongs to Hindu region, 56.6% were from joint family, 46.6% of common cold occurs in winter season, 23.3% of mothers were illiterate, majority 78.3 of houses were close to main road, 75% of people more than 3 members were sharing child bed room, 86.6% of smokers present, 58.3% of nonsmoky fuel used in house, 88.3% of kitchen attached to living room.

 

Table 2: Assessing the practice of common cold       N=60

S. No.	PRACTICE	PERCENTAGE
		Yes	No
1.	Home remedies	33.22%	66.78%
2.	Management of common cold	87.50%	12.50%
3.	Personal and hand Hygiene	68.25%	31.75%
4.	Food Practice	55.13%	44.87%

 

Table 2. shows that majority (66.78%) had not practicing home remedies for common cold and least mothers of under five children (33.22%) were practicing home remedies. And also the practice for common cold were followed by Management of common cold 87.50%, Personal and hand Hygiene 68.25% and Food practice 55.13%.

 

CONCLUSION:

The survey was conducted to assess the demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour of people living in selected village of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In the survey population of Galonda village were selected by using non probability convenient sampling technique. The research approach adapted to this survey is a descriptive survey approach with a view to assess the demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour of people living in Galonda village.

 

REFERENCES:

1.      Darshan S, Balasubramanium AV. Green Health Boom. Indian Folklife (Internet).2003(Cited 2003 April 30); 13(4): Available from http://www.indianfolklore.org/journals/index.php/IFL/article/ viewFile/441/504

2.      Washington, DC. Addressing the Links between Indoor Air Pollution, Household Energy and Human Health. Based on the WHO-USAID Global Consultation on the Health Impact of Indoor Air Pollution and Household Energy in Developing Countries (Meeting report), World Health Organization; (2002). Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/H%26SD_Plaq_ no9.pdf

3.      Atlanta. Get smart: Know when an antibiotic works. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA); 2000. Report No.: 800CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348 Available from: http:// www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/URI/colds.html

4.      Ayurveda for you: Benefits of the Tulsi. (Internet)2000(cited 20 Oct 2002); Available from: http://ayurvedaforyou.com/index.html

5.      Larson M, Kronvall G, Chuc N.T.K, Karlsson I, Lager F, Hanh H.D, Tomson, Falkenberg T. Antibiotic medication and bacterial resistance to antibiotics: A survey of children in a Vietnamese community. Tropical Medicine and International Health. 2000; 5(10):711-21. Available from: https://www.google.co.in/?gfe_rd= crandei=LfOxVL6VG-

 

 

Received on 23.05.2020          Modified on 07.07.2020

Accepted on 16.08.2020        © AandV Publications all right reserved