Mothers’ knowledge and practices of managing minor illnesses of children under five years

Abstract

Assessing mothers’ knowledge and practices in managing minor illness is very important in order to ensure safe and effective ways of managing minor illnesses and decrease complications and hospitalisation. The aims of this study were to explore mothers' knowledge and practices of managing minor illnesses of children under the age of five and the association between socio-demographic variables of the mothers and their knowledge and practices of managing minor illnesses. This study used a cross-sectional survey design. The survey included true or false knowledge questions related to management of minor illness and related symptoms in children including fever (12 questions), upper respiratory tract infection (seven questions) and diarrhoea (nine questions). Data were analysed by calculating frequencies, distribution, and where appropriate running bivariate correlations and t-tests to determine if significant associations existed between maternal demographic variables and level of knowledge. Findings: A total of 348 mothers who visited the comprehensive health centres in Irbid, Jordan agreed to participate in the study. The mean number of questions answered correctly about fever management was 8.6 (SD = 1.7). The mean score for management of URTI was 4.9 (SD = 1.4) and for diarrhoea was 6.4 (SD = 1.2). There was a significant positive association between the mother’s age, household income, mother’s level of education, and number of children, with knowledge and practices of fever and/or upper respiratory tract infection, p < .05. Nurses and other health care providers could play a significant role in educating women in how to manage their children's minor illnesses.