Knowledge and Practice on Prevention of Intestinal Parasitic Infection among mothers of under-five children in Bule Hora Town, Oromia Region, Southern Ethiopia, 2021

Abstract

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPI) isone of the public health problems in many communities, particularly among children in rural areas of developing countries. Ethiopian studies have concentrated on the prevalence and distribution of intestinal parasitic infections, primarily among school children. Only a few studies have looked at the scope on knowledge of under-five children’s mothers regarding prevention of parasitic infections. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach was conducted from November 30 to December 30, 2020, among mothers of under-five children in Bule Hora town. The sample size in this study was 403. The data will be coded, checked and cleaned data (edited) will be entered into Epi-Data version 4.4.3.1 and exported to SPSS Statistics Version 25 for analysis. Result: The overall knowledge and practice level concerning mothers of under-five children regarding prevention of intestinal parasitic infections was, all among 51.6% had poor knowledge and 53.1% had poor practice. In Religious group wagefata, (AOR 2.199, 95% CI 1.05 - 4.59), mothers who not able to read and write (AOR 0.26, 95% CI 0.12-0.57) had poor knowledge than others. Further in age group (31-35) (AOR 2.94, 95% CI 1.38-6.24), Muslim (AOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.18-0.85) and mothers who had not able to read and write (AOR 3.97, 95% CI 1.26 - 12.49) had poor practice respectively. Conclusion: Mothers with children under the age of five have a considerably low degree of optimal awareness and experience when it comes to preventing intestinal parasitic infection. As a result, campaigns or formal training can be used to raise community consciousness about intestinal parasitic infestation prevention and control.