Mothers Knowledge Related Preventive Measure of Pneumonia in Slum Community, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is the leading cause of death of children under five years of age. The considerable number of children having pneumonia has difficulty to reach health services in the appropriate time due to their mother's failure to recognize the seriousness of their infection. Methods: Present cross-sectional study was performed by using a close-ended, adapted questionnaire comprising of 15 closed-ended items. Data was gathered through a convenient sampling method. The calculated sample size was 120 subjects of the female gender. Written consent was taken from each participant before filling of the questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 21.00. Results: Out of 120 subjects, 59.2% study participant was illiterate, 51.6% subjects were in the age group of 31 to 41 years. 15.8% of women had fair knowledge whereas 55.5% of women did not have knowledge about pneumonia. And 28.7% of women they did not know what is pneumonia. 60.8 % of respondents were unable to recognize sign and symptoms of pneumonia. Only 19.2% of participants know vaccination of pneumonia should be made essential for children. Conclusion: The study concluded that mother had scanty knowledge of pneumonia its preventive measure, and immunization. The government should also provide awareness through mass media, so that the mortality and morbidity rates can be reduced and many valuable lives can be protected.

Mothers Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Acute Respiratory Infection in Children Under Five Years/ Urban and Rural Areas - Al Mukalla City-2022

“…Signs present in pneumonia are very similar to those of common cold and fever, and lack of maternal understanding of the proper signs and symptoms of ARI in general and pneumonia in particular is the explanation why they do not bring the child to the hospital early for care. Similar findings were recorded in India [9], and Pakistan [10], whereby majority of mothers had poor knowledge about pneumonia signs and symptoms, while in another study [11], most mothers correctly knew signs and symptoms of pneumonia. However, it is very difficult to reach health care facilities in these regions, as these rural and poor children have raised their chances of dying before the age of five relative to their wealthy and urban peers [12].…”

“…Their incidence is often difficult to estimate because ARIs are typically treated in outpatient settings and the majority of available epidemiological data are collected in hospital settings and are referred to as the most severe respiratory illness. Controlling it is a major public health challenge, particularly in developing countries [1][2][3].…”

Delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia and associated factors among mothers/caregivers of children aged 2–59 months in public health facilities in Nekemte town, Ethiopia

“…Furthermore, mothers’ and caregivers’ lack of knowledge about pneumonia causes significant delays in prompt healthcare seeking. This is supported by research from Pakistan [ 32 ], Kenya [ 26 ], and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia [ 17 ]. This could be due to inadequate information or education about pneumonia.…”