Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Rural Mothers about Home-Related Injuries in a Rural Area in El-Minia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Background: unintentional injury remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children worldwide. Objectives: to measure the incidence and types of home injuries affecting rural children aged up to 12 years and to assess their mother's knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about the first aids. Methods: this cross-sectional descriptive study included 283 mothers from Damares village, El-Minia, Egypt. Structured interview sheet was developed containing data about socio-demographic characteristics and the mother's KAP towards home injuries. Results: it was found that 39.8% of the children suffered from home injuries at the previous 8 weeks. About 30% of the injured children were aged ≤3years and over 63% of them were males. Cut/wound represented the highest percentage of home injury (48%) followed by fracture/fall (36%) and burn (11.9%). The study revealed that 22.3% of mothers did not know the term of first aid, most of them were illiterate. The main source of the mothers' knowledge was from television (38.5%). The practices of mothers towards the children home injuries were increased better with increasing educational level. The older the mother was the better the practice in case of home injuries. The mother’s level of education, source of knowledge about first aid, older age and occupation were significant predictors of KAP score among the studied mothers (p<0.001). Conclusions: the well educated and the older mothers have better knowledge, attitude and practice regarding home injuries than other mothers.