Level of Knowledge of Mothers of Children under 5 Years with Acute Respiratory Infections in a Family Medicine Unit

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the association between the level of knowledge, attitudes, and empirical practices on acute respiratory infections (ari) in mothers of children under five years old. Methods: cross-sectional and analytical study. 217 mothers of children under five years were selected, by non-probability sampling, assigned to the Family Medicine no. 9 in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. A validated questionnaire was applied to evaluate the level of knowledge related to empirical practices and attitudes on ari. With the obtained data a descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was performed by the Mantel and  Haenszel χ2 test, as well as Odds Ratio Calculation (or) and confidence intervals (ci). Results: the age of mothers ranged from 16 to 46 years, average of 28.48. It was found that 50.2% presents a regular level of knowledge on ari (n=109); 30.4% had attitudes and malpractices (n=66) and only 19.4% had good practice (n=42). No significant correlation was found between the level of knowledge of mothers with attitudes and empirical practices and socio-demographic factors. Conclusions: knowledge, attitudes and practices in caregivers regarding ari were incorrect, stressing the need to implement and strengthen educational activities in the community.