Educational Video for Infant Diarrhea Prevention: Randomized Clinical Trial
Introduction: Diarrhea is a major cause of illness in children under five years of age and, along with pneumonia, is a major cause of child mortality. Through behavioral influence on the occurrence of diarrhea, health education is an important facilitator for empowering individuals, families and communities, contributing to the promotion of health and, consequently, to reduce cases of childhood diarrhea. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the educational video "Infant Diarrhea: you are able to prevent" on mothers of children under five years of age, according to the aspects related to the care of children's health and the occurrence of infant diarrhea. Methods: Randomized clinical trial, conducted in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, with 133 mothers of children under five years of age, with 70 allocated in the comparison group and 63 in the intervention group. Data collection took place from April to June 2013, in two moments: the first in the Unit of Primary Health Care and the second by telephone after two months. Results: The groups were similar in all sociodemographic aspects analyzed (p>0.196). Moreover, there was no statistically significant association between the occurrence of infant diarrhea and the characteristics related to the care of children's health. The chance for occurrence of diarrhea showed up higher in the comparison group (RC>1) with respect to four of the variables: exclusive breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, how they clean the bottle and if they boil / scald other utensils used in the child’s diet. Conclusion: The educational video was effective in promoting the adoption of healthy habits by the mothers and reducing chances of occurrence of infant diarrhea. It is essential that health professionals get to know the mentioned video and that this one guide the practice of these professionals in preventing infant diarrhea and empowering of mothers, so that they are able to also prevent the occurrence of this disease in their children.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access and Benefits of Publishing Open Access).