[Educational intervention for preventing dehydration in diarrheal diseases in Tlapacoyan, Mexico].

OBJECTIVES

To deliver an educational intervention to teach mothers self-care measures to manage children's diarrhea and dehydration.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

A controlled community trial intervention was designed (with control group) consisting of 180 mothers of children aged under five. The study was conducted in the city of Tlapacoyan, Veracruz, Mexico. Differences were measured for 17 main concepts and compared between the experimental group and the control group. Comparisons before and after the intervention were controlled for mother's age, education and previous training.

RESULTS

All 17 concepts showed per cent changes that ranged between 30% and 100% for the intervention group, and between 13% to 41% for the control group. Chi square values were used to test statistical significance, to ensure that differences were due to the intervention and not to chance.

CONCLUSIONS

A multichannel educational intervention is a culturally sensitive intervention that shows better results than a face-to-face intervention. It should be used for those groups that are at high risk of death due to dehydration associated to diarrhea, even when oral rehydration salts are available.