Assessment of Knowledge, Practice and Factors Affecting Sunlight Exposure of Infants among Mothers Attending Governmental Health Facilities In Debre Markos Town, East Gojjam, Ethiopia, 2014
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background- For centuries, sunlight has been used for therapeutic purposes. Parents still exposetheir infants to sunlight to treat neonatal jaundice, mostly to supply vitamin D for bonedevelopment as a consequence of health beliefs.
Objective- The main objective of this study was to assess knowledge, practice and factorsaffecting sunlight exposure of infants among mothers attending governmental health facilities inDebre Markos Town, East Gojjam, Ethiopia, 2014.
Method- Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among mothers attending in under fiveand immunization clinics of all government health facilities in Debre Markos Town by taking atotal sample size of 359 from December 1 to 30, 2014. Probability sampling method was used forthe selection of individual respondents. Data was entered using EPI data version 3.1 and analyzedby SPSS version 16. Binary and multiple logistic regressions were done to show the associationof dependent and independent variables.
Results - Out of 359 respondents identified for the study 96% (n=345) were responded for theinterview. From the total respondents 60% and 55.4% of them had poor knowledge and poor practice about sunlight exposure respectively. In multivariate analysis mothers’ educational statushad significant association with both knowledge and practice of sunlight exposure of infants.
Conclusion and Recommendations: The findings in this study showed mothers had poorknowledge and poor practice about sunlight exposure. Therefore, mothers need to be educated about the importance of sunlight exposure.
Key words= Mothers’ knowledge, Rickets, Sunlight exposure, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency
Description
Keywords
Mothers’ knowledge Rickets Sunlight exposure Vitamin D Vitamin D deficiency