Perception, attitude and willingness of under-live children caregivers to growth monitoring in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to explore perceptions of under-live caregivers on growth monitoring in Ibadan south-west local government in Nigeria. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional design was used for the study which involved four-stage sampling techniques. The study was conducted among the 410 caregivers who consented to participate . Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect the data. The questionnaire elicited information on socio demographic characteristics. Knowledge, Attitude and Growth Monitoring perceptions were measured on a 16-poinl scale and categorized into "negative" (<8) and positive (>8). Descriptive statistics using mean and standard deviation were generated while qualitative data was analysed using Atlas Ti version 7. Result: Mean age of the Caregivers of Undcr-5 was 3I.6±6.5 years, 46.8% had secondary education and 56.8% were traders. Majority (88.3%) had received information on Growth Monitoring and (66.6%) heard from the health workers. Almost all the respondents (90.0%) had positive perception towards Growth Monitoring (10.8±2.9). It was also suggested by the caregivers that their involvement is very crucial in monitoring the growth of their children. Conclusion: The study showed that most of the caregivers had positive perceptions towards growth monitoring and advocated their active involvement if training programmes can be developed