Knowledge, attitude and practice on diphtheria prevention of mothers with children aged 6 - 48 months in Dak To district - Kon Tum province

Abstract

Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices about diphtheria prevention of mothers of children aged 6 - 48 months in Dak To district, Kon Tum province in 2022 and identify some associated factors with knowledge, attitudes and practices about diphtheria prevention on this target group. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 mothers with children from 6 to 48 months old from November 2022 to January 2023. We performed face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires to investigate mothers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on diphtheria prevention. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 20.0) software. The research has received ethical approval from the University Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University. Results: The percentage of the mothers with good knowledge, good attitudes, and good practices on diphtheria prevention were 78.1%, 79.0%, 35.2%, respectively. The multivariable logistic regression model identified the associated factors with knowledge about diphtheria prevention as follows: residing in region I (OR = 3.58; 95% CI: 1.04 - 12.35), high school education or above (OR = 71.68; 95% CI: 21.27 - 241.64), other occupations than farmers (OR = 9.03; 95% CI: 2.83 - 28.76). Factors related to attitude include: residing in region I (OR = 10.06; 95% CI: 2.22 - 53.07), the Kinh (OR = 11.08; 95%CI: 1.81 - 67.71), and good knowledge (OR = 419.14; 95%CI: 84.27 - 2084.69). Being of the Kinh (OR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.01 - 3.68), having high school education or above (OR = 6.39; 95%CI: 1.92 - 21.21), others occupations than farmers (OR = 2.56; 95%CI: 1.36 - 4.82), and having good knowledge (OR = 12.96; 95%CI: 2.52 - 66.89) were associated with practice on diphtheria prevention. Conclusion: The percentage of mothers with good knowledge and attitudes about diphtheria prevention is quite high, but the percentage of those having good practice is still low. Therefore, it is necessary to review vaccination rates and proactively develop plans to deploy vaccinations and supplementary vaccinations within the month for unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated individuals. Strengthen communication and health education for people about diphtheria prevention, pay attention to communication in difficult areas are other recommendations. Key words: diphtheria, knowledge, attitude, practice, central highland region of Vietna