Abstract

Introduction: Acute respiratory infection is the leading cause of mortality in children with majority of death occurring in developing countries and pneumonia is the most serious outcome of ARI in young children according to the national demographic health survey and also the major cause of death. Early prevention and treatment are one of the best ways to lower the cases of acute respiratory infection in children and this can start at home by creating awareness about the home remedies practiced. Keeping this in mind, we formulated research objectives to know the home remedies for acute respiratory infection and to assess the practice among parents. Method of the study: The study we conducted was a descriptive study amongst 241 parents of children between 5-15 years of age using non-probability purposive sampling. They were given selfinstructed checklist which comprised of statements to assess home-based practices. The study was conducted in selected outpatient departments of All India Institute of Medical Sciences Raipur. Results: The analysis of the study was done using descriptive statistics. According to the parents’ response, the results of the study came out nearly 86.72% having poor practice and 0.45% with good practice of home-based remedies of acute respiratory infections. Discussion: According to a study conducted by Sudhir Mishra and his colleagues in New Delhi, usage of honey, ginger, tulsietc was the mostly used home-based practice for prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections in children. Our study concluded that the usage of ginger/herbal tea, tulsi water, turmeric milk was the mostly used practices by the parents. Conclusion: Adequate practice of parents on home remedies is required for prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infection in children. From the study, the researchers found that many parents believe home remedies are beneficial for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections in children. But in contrary to this they have poor practices in it.

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