Knowledge and practices of mothers regarding acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years of age in Urban Slums of Multan

ABSTRACT

Acute Respiratory Infection [ARI] is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years of age in developing countries. The knowledge of mothers regarding ARI is inadequate which leads to delayed care seeking and other factors contributing to high mortality. To determine the Knowledge and Practices of mothers regarding Acute Respiratory Infection. Cross-sectional descriptive study. Urban slums of Multan, from April 2010 to March 2011. A semi-structured questionnaire proforma was used to interview 500 mothers selected by stratified random sampling technique from urban slums of Multan. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Mother's description of the causes of ARI in children was mostly exposures to "Thand" [cold], after bathing, sour and cold foods. Mothers also had inadequate knowledge of severity of symptoms of ARI including pneumonia. About 44% showed prompt care seeking response within 24 hours of ARI and rest [55.8%] showed delayed response to health care seeking. Thirty three percent mothers preferred private doctors to get treatment, 27.2% favored to go to the public sector, and the rest did home remedy i.e. Tea, Honey, Vicks rub and Warm wrapping. The reasonable majority of mothers [58%] did self medication in their children suffering from ARI. Mothers living in urban slums in Multan have insufficient knowledge and inappropriate health care seeking practices regarding management of ARI in their children