Citation

Poorolajal J, Cheraghi P, Hazavehei SM, Rezapur-Shahkolai F. J. Res. Health Sci. (2005) 2012; 13(1): 63-68.

Affiliation

Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sci-ences, Hamadan, Iran.poorolajal@umsha.ac.ir.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, School of Public Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

23772008

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Injuries are the first leading but predictable, avoidable and preventable cause of death among under five-year children worldwide. The present study aimed to identify the factors associated with mothers' beliefs and practices concerning injury prevention in under five-year children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to October 2011 in Hamadan County, the west of Iran, enrolling 580 mothers with at least one under five-year child. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire including 85 questions regarding demographic characteristics; knowledge; practices; Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs; and history of injury occurrence among the children. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by a pilot study using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data had been collected through interview with mothers, by trained interviewers. RESULTS: Almost 22.59% of mothers reported at least one injury in their under five-year children. Of 131 injuries occurred, 85 cases were mild, 23 cases were moderate, and 23 cases were severe. About 52.67% of injuries occurred in boys, 37.41% in less than one-year children, 73.28% at home, and 61.07% when the children were playing game. Fall (24.28%), burn (20.61%) and poisoning (14.50%) were the common causes of injuries. There was a positive correlation between mothers' practices and knowledge, perceived benefits, cues to action and self-efficacy and a negative correlation between mothers' practices and perceived susceptibility, severity, and barriers. CONCLUSION: Knowledge, perceived severity, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy of mothers toward the injuries in children were among the most important predictive constructs, which may be used for planning educating programs.

Language: en