Knowledge and perception regarding childhood pneumonia among mothers of under-five children in rural areas of Udupi Taluk, Karnataka: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: A large number of children die due to pneumonia making it the single largest infectious cause of death more than AIDS, measles, and malaria combined. In India, acute respiratory infection is a major public health problem, especially for the age group of 0–5 years which contributes to 15–30% of deaths falling under this age group and most of these deaths are preventable. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and perception regarding childhood pneumonia among mothers of under-five children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 460 mothers of under-five children. Interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection and the sampling technique used was three-stage cluster sampling. The questionnaire was divided into three sections as socio-demographic profile, level of knowledge, and level of perception. Results: The study found that mothers were predominantly secondary school graduates (32.6%) out of which, 93.7% were homemakers, 41.3% mothers had fair knowledge, and 41.5% had fair perception about pneumonia. Age and education level of mothers had a significant association with the knowledge as well as with perception. There was a significant association between level of knowledge and perception of childhood pneumonia among these mothers. Conclusion: Overall, mothers had fair knowledge and fair perception of childhood pneumonia. The lack of knowledge about simple signs and symptoms and factors related to pneumonia needs to be addressed.