Evaluation of a social marketing intervention promoting oral rehydration salts in Burundi

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Megan B Kays¹  Sethson Kassegne²  Jerome Nzohabonayo³ 

[1] Population Services International, 1120 Nineteenth Street NW, Suite 600, 20036, Washington, D.C., USA;Population Services International/Benin, B.P. 08-0876, Tri Postal Cotonou, Benin;Population Services International/Burundi, B.P. 1474, Bujumbura, Burundi;

关键词: Diarrhea;    Social Marketing;    Outcome Expectation;    Oral Rehydration Salt;    Behavioral Determinant;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-155

 received in 2010-02-17, accepted in 2011-03-08,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDiarrhea is the second leading cause of death for children under five in Burundi; however, use of oral rehydration salts (ORS), the recommended first-line treatment, remains low. In 2004, PSI/Burundi launched a social marketing intervention to promote ORASEL among caregivers of children under five; the product was relaunched in 2006 with a new flavor. This study evaluates the intervention after the ORASEL relaunch, which included mass media and interpersonal communication activities. The study looks at trends in ORASEL use in Burundi and in behavioral determinants that may be related to its use.MethodsIn 2006 and 2007, PSI conducted household surveys among Burundian females of reproductive age (15-49). Both surveys used a two-stage sampling process to select 30 households in each of 115 rural and urban collines throughout the nation. Survey respondents were asked about diarrhea treatment-related behavior; key behavioral determinants; and exposure to the ORASEL intervention. Data were analyzed to identify trends over time, characteristics of ORASEL users, and associations between exposure to the intervention and changes in ORASEL use and related behavioral determinants.ResultsORASEL use among caregivers at their children's last diarrheal episode increased significantly from 20% in 2006 to 30% in 2007, and there were also desirable changes in several behavioral determinants associated with ORASEL use. Evaluation analysis showed that a higher level of exposure to the social marketing campaign was associated with greater use of ORASEL and with significant improvements in perceived availability, knowledge of the signs of diarrhea and dehydration, social support, and self-efficacy.ConclusionsORS use can be improved through social marketing and educational campaigns that make the public aware of the availability of the product, encourage dialogue about its use, and increase skills and confidence relating to correct product preparation and administration. Further interventions in Burundi and elsewhere should promote ORS through a variety of mass media and interpersonal communication channels, and should be rigorously evaluated in the context of the total market for diarrhea treatment products.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Kassegne et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.