Oral rehydration therapy: a community trial comparing the acceptability of homemade sucrose and cereal-based solutions.
Sugar-based oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea is promoted in many countries of the world. One programme in Bangladesh has instructed more than 13 million mothers in the preparation of a sugar-salt solution in the home; despite very high rates of correct mixing and knowledge, subsequent application was found in only some 20% of all diarrhoea episodes. Since rice is far more available in rural homes (95%) than any type of sugar (30%) and rice gruel is a widely accepted food during illness, a field trial was conducted in three areas (total population, 68,345) to compare the acceptability and use of rice-based ORT with that of sugar-based ORT. Although the mothers unanimously agreed that the rice-based solutions "stopped" the diarrhoea more quickly, they used the sugar-based solutions twice as often (in 40% of severe watery episodes) as the rice-based solutions (in 18%), because the rice-ORT was much more time-consuming and difficult to prepare. The observed reduced utilization of home-made rice-ORT makes it a poor substitute for sugar-ORT at the community level in rural Bangladesh.
Chowdhury
A M
AM
Research and Evaluation Division, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Dhaka.
Karim
F
F
Rohde
J E
JE
Ahmed
J
J
Abed
F H
FH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D012275:Oryza; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies