- CAREGIVERS /MOTHERS LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE OF NEONATAL DANGER SIGN AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN WOLKITE UNIVERSITY SPECIALIZED AND TEACHING HOSPITAL AND ATTAT PRIMARY HOSPITAL, GURAGHE ZONE, SNNPR, ETHIOPIA 2023

Abstract

Background: Globally 10 million children die annually before their fifth birthday, most of them in the neonatal period. More than 98% of these deaths occur in developing countries. One of the way of reducing the new-born morbidity and mortality is early recognition of sick newborn & the danger signs of illness and initiation of prompt treatment. Objective: To assess knowledge of mothers about neonatal danger sign and its associated factors among months who visit WKUSTH and Attar primary hospital for PNC Guraghe zone, SNNP, Ethiopia, 2023Method: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed to assess the caregivers /mothers level of knowledge of neonatal danger signs and its associated factors in WKUSTH and Attat primary from May 25/2023 to June 25/2023. Face to face interview using structured and pretested questionnaires was employed. By Systematic random sampling technique, 283 caregivers/mothers were selected. The data was coded, cleaned, edited and entered in to Epidata version 4.2 and exported SPSS version 24 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to see the association between dependent and independent variables. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to see the strength of association and those variables (P < 0.05) was considered as statistically significant. Result: The majority (77.4%) of the participant were knows at least one of the ten WHO recognized neonatal danger signs, but only 54.4% (95% CI: 48.4, 60.4) of mothers found to have a good knowledge. Mothers who were aged between 36-45 years were nearly 4.035 times [AOR: 4.035, 95%CI: (2.630, 11.818)] higher to have knowledge about neonatal danger signs as compared to mothers whose age is below 18 years. Similarly, mothers whose husband attain degree and above educational level were nearly 3.301 times [AOR: 3.301, 95%CI:(1.77, 8.16)] to mention at least three neonatal danger signs as compared to mothers whose husbands have no formal education. The odds knowledge of neonatal danger signs were 2.602 among mother who had more than 3 PNC visit [AOR: 2.602, 95%CI: (0.980, 7.408)] as compared to mothers who had one PNC visit .Similarly, the odds of knowledge of neonatal danger signs were nearly 1.623 among mothers who were multigravida [AOR: 1.623, 95%CI: (1.064, 3.846)].Conclusion: This study shows that more than fifty percent (54.4%) of mothers/caregivers were found to have good knowledge of neonatal danger signs. Improving maternal knowledge about neonatal danger signs is essential for reducing neonatal and infant mortality. Maternal age, husband’s higher educational level achievement, multi-gravidity and high exposure to PNC service were the factors that were associated with good maternal knowledge towards neonatal danger sign.