1. Intervention to Improve Diarrhea-Related Knowledge and Practices Among Informal Healthcare Providers in Slums of Kolkata.
- Author
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Mahapatra, Tanmay, Mahapatra, Sanchita, Chakraborty, Nandini Datta, Raj, Aparna, Bakshi, Bhawani, Banerjee, Barnali, Saha, Snehasish, Guha, Abhijit, Dutta, Shanta, Kanungo, Suman, and Datta Chakraborty, Nandini
- Subjects
MEDICAL personnel ,SLUMS ,DRUG resistance in microorganisms ,ODDS ratio ,CHOLERA ,DIAGNOSIS of diarrhea ,PREVENTION of cholera ,DIARRHEA prevention ,CHOLERA diagnosis ,RESEARCH ,DIARRHEA ,RESEARCH methodology ,HYGIENE ,SANITATION ,EVALUATION research ,POVERTY areas ,WATER supply ,COMPARATIVE studies ,HEALTH attitudes ,ECONOMIC aspects of diseases - Abstract
Background: In the densely populated slums of Kolkata, informal healthcare providers' (IHP) diarrhea-related knowledge and rationality of practices should be improved to reduce risk of adverse outcome, expenditure, and antimicrobial resistance.Methods: A multicomponent intervention was conducted among 140 representative IHPs in the slums of 8 wards in Kolkata to assess its impact on their diarrhea-related knowledge and practice. Six intervention modules in local languages were provided (1 per month) with baseline (N = 140) and postintervention (N = 124) evaluation.Results: Mean overall (61.1 to 69.3; P < .0001) and domain-specific knowledge scores for etiology/spread (5.4 to 8.1; P < .0001), management (6.4 to 7.2; P < .0001), and oral rehydration solution ([ORS] 5.7 to 6.5; P < .0001) increased significantly (at α = 0.05) after intervention and were well retained. Impact on knowledge regarding etiology/spread (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 5.6; P < .0001), cholera (aOR = 2.0; P = .0041), management (aOR = 3.1; P < .0001), ORS (aOR = 2.3; P = .0008), and overall (aOR = 4.3; P < .0001) were significant. Intervention worked better for IHPs who practiced for ≥10 years (aOR = 3.2; P < .0001), untrained IHPs (aOR = 4.8; P < .0001), and pharmacists (aOR = 8.3; P < .0001). Irrational practices like empirical antibiotic use for every cholera case (aOR = 0.3; P < .0001) and investigation for every diarrhea case (aOR = 0.4; P = .0003) were reduced. Rationality of testing (aOR = 4.2; P < .0001) and antibiotic use (aOR = 1.8; P = .0487) improved.Conclusions: Multicomponent educational intervention resulted in sustainable improvement in diarrhea-related knowledge and practices among IHPs in slums of Kolkata. Policy implications should be advocated along with implementation and scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2021
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