ASSESSMENT OF MOTHERS' PRACTICE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CARE OF THEIR CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM OTITIS MEDIA WITH THE VIEW TO DEVELOP HEALTH EDUCATION MODULE

Abstract

Background: Otitis media (OM) is one of the most prevalent illnesses of infancy and early childhood. It is the most leading cause of conductive hearing loss in children, and speech/language delay that associated with adverse social and educational outcome. Mothers play the most significant role not only in providing care for their children suffering from otitis media but also in prevention this disease which lead to improvement of quality of life of their children. This study aimed to: assess mothers' knowledge and practices about care of their children suffering from otitis media, and to develop health education module. Research design: a descriptive design was used. Setting: the study was conducted at the outpatient clinics of Ear, Nose and Throat of Mansoura University. Subjects: a convenient sample of 127 mothers whose their children were under 5 years old and suffering from otitis media, with and without complication of otitis media. Tool of data collection: data about mothers' knowledge and their practices about care of OM were collected using a structured questionnaire sheet. The Results of this study revealed that, 63.8% of the studied children their age were from 1 year to less than 3 years and there was a positive relation between mothers' knowledge and their practice to provide care for their children suffering from otitis media. This study concluded that, more than half of studied mothers had insufficient knowledge score and unsatisfactory score in practical knowledge regarding otitis media. Recommendation: regular and continuous health education programs are essential for mothers of children suffering from otitis media about care of their children and their community resources.