Determinants of Mothers' Knowledge on Health Aspects of Children Less than Two Years among a Sample of Mothers in Baghdad | ||
| IRAQI JOURNALOF COMMUNITY MEDICINE | ||
| Article 1, Volume 29, Issue 2, June 2016, Pages 16-20 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Yusra MH Ali; Najlaa F Jamil | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Children constitute the most important and vulnerable segment of the population; programmes that aim to enhance the health of children require baseline information on what mothers know about and provide for their children. Objectives: To determine the level of knowledge of mothers on certain health aspects of children below two years of age and the factors influencing such knowledge and to address the sources of mothers' information. Subjects and method: A cross sectional study was conducted in seven primary health care centers in Baghdad for the period from the 2nd of April, to the end of June, 2013. Mothers who had children less than five years of age and attended the selected health centers were recruited. Data was collected via direct interview with mothers using a special questionnaire form to assess the knowledge of the mothers regarding different aspects on child health. In addition, the data collected comprised some characteristics of the mother and father as well as mother's source of information on child health. Results: The study demonstrated that 66% of the participants had an overall acceptable level of knowledge on the various aspects of child health with a mean of 23, 4. Current age of the mother, her age at marriage, education and occupation of the mother and father and number of children. All these factors demonstrated a statistical significant association with mother's level of knowledge. Conclusion: Despite the acceptable level of knowledge, the study revealed considerable deficiencies in the knowledge of mothers particularly in regard to immunization, common childhood illnesses and safety practices which mandate the adaption of interventions that can correct the existing gaps in mother's information. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Determinants; Mothers; Health Aspects; Children; Baghdad | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 73 PDF Download: 35 |
||