| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 1 | Page : 35-39 |
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Knowledge and perception regarding childhood pneumonia among mothers of under-five children in rural areas of Udupi Taluk, Karnataka: A cross-sectional study
Susan Mary Pradhan1, Arathi P Rao1, Sanjay M Pattanshetty1, AR Nilima2
1 Department of Public Health, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India
2 Department of Biostatistics, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Arathi P Rao
Department of Public Health, Old TAPMI Building, II Floor, Manipal - 576 104, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2349-5006.183690
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Background: A large number of children die due to pneumonia making it the single largest infectious cause of death more than AIDS, measles, and malaria combined. In India, acute respiratory infection is a major public health problem, especially for the age group of 0–5 years which contributes to 15–30% of deaths falling under this age group and most of these deaths are preventable.
Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and perception regarding childhood pneumonia among mothers of under-five children.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 460 mothers of under-five children. Interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection and the sampling technique used was three-stage cluster sampling. The questionnaire was divided into three sections as socio-demographic profile, level of knowledge, and level of perception.
Results: The study found that mothers were predominantly secondary school graduates (32.6%) out of which, 93.7% were homemakers, 41.3% mothers had fair knowledge, and 41.5% had fair perception about pneumonia. Age and education level of mothers had a significant association with the knowledge as well as with perception. There was a significant association between level of knowledge and perception of childhood pneumonia among these mothers.
Conclusion: Overall, mothers had fair knowledge and fair perception of childhood pneumonia. The lack of knowledge about simple signs and symptoms and factors related to pneumonia needs to be addressed. |
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