Table 5.

Characteristics of primary care given for childhood diarrhea.

Characteristics of primary care		n	%
Primary care given	Health facility	142	50.4
	Home	76	27
	Drug store	54	19.1
	Traditional treatment	10	3.5
Reason for primary treatment	Health education	94	31.9
	Low cost	53	18
	Previous experience	49	16.6
	Easy access	45	15.3
	‘Normal’	35	11.9
	No reason	19	6.4
Oral rehydration treatment givena	Salt sugar solution (SSS)	88	43.6
	Oral rehydration solution (ORS)	74	36.6
	Herbal remedies/traditional drugs	28	13.9
	Water only	12	5.9
Frequency of meals during illness	Less than usual	192	67.8
	Same as usual	83	29.3
	More than usual	8	2.8
Success of primary care	Child got better	152	52.1
	Child’s symptoms got worse	140	47.9
Recognition of danger signsb	Signs of dehydration	–	–
	Increased frequency of stools	111	79.3
	Restlessness	11	7.9
	Stopped eating	16	11.4
	Body weakness	53	37.9
	Vomiting	14	10

ORS = oral rehydration solution; SSS = salt sugar solution.

^a69% (n = 202) of children with diarrhea received any kind of rehydration therapy.

^bProportion of caregivers who gave further care after recognizing danger signs of diarrhea as listed.