title: Oral rehydration salt use and its correlates in low-level care of diarrhea among children under 36 months old in rural Western China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since 2000, there has been a decline in the proportion of oral rehydration salts (ORS) therapy in childhood diarrhea. How to sustain and achieve a high level of ORS therapy continues to be a challenge.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data of 14112 households and 894 villages in 45 counties across 10 provinces of Western China were collected in 2005. Generalized estimated equation logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants of ORS use in home-based and village-level care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The therapy rate of ORS was 34.62%. This rate in home-based care (HBC) was significantly lower than that in village-level care (VLC), township-level care or county-level-or-above care. The children in the families with several pre-school-aged children (OR = 0.29 95% CI: 0.10, 0.86) or of the smaller age (12 vs 36 months: OR = 0.10 95% CI 0.02, 0.41; 24 vs 36 months: OR = 0.26 95% CI 0.09, 0.77) were less likely to receive ORS therapy against diarrhea in HBC. The children whose family had the habit of drinking boiled water (OR = 2.77 95% CI 1.30-5.91), or whose caretakers received educational materials about childhood diseases (OR = 3.08 95% CI 1.54, 6.16), or who were living in the villages in which village clinics had the available ORS packages (OR = 3.94 95% CI 2.25, 6.90) were more likely to receive ORS therapy against diarrhea in VLC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There thus, ORS promoting program should give the highest priority to home care. ORS promoting strategies for low-level care could be strengthened based on children characteristics, the habit of drinking water and the situation of receiving educational material in the families and on the availability of ORS packages in village clinics in rural Western China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, PO Box 46, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Duolao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shaonong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000628:therapy*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015532:Rehydration Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D015532:Rehydration Solutions; D012965:Sodium Chloride