KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION, AND HEALTH-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF MOTHERS CONCERNING PNEUMONIA AMONG UNDER-FIVE IN ALAKIA COMMUNITY OF EGBEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection caused by different infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Nigeria is among the top five countries which constitute over half of the pneumonia deaths among under-five children. Anecdotal reports show that childhood pneumonia is a source of concern in Alakia, a peri-urban community in Ibadan. However, the health seeking behaviour and the antecedent factors related to the disease have not been well explored among mothers of under-five in this community. Yet, mothers of Under-five have pivotal roles to play in the prevention and management of pneumonia. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate the knowledge, perception, and health-seeking behaviour of mothers concerning pneumonia among under-five children in Alakia Community, Egbeda Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey involving the use of a multi-stage sampling technique to recruit 389 mothers of under-fives in Alakia community. A validated semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire which included a 38- point knowledge scale was used for data collection. Knowledge scores 0 – 19, >19 -28.5 points, >28.5 points were categorized as poor, fair, and good respectively. A 17-point scale was used to determine the perception of mothers of under-fives and perception scores < 8.5 points were categorized as unfavourable while perception scores ≥ 8.5 were rated favourable. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The mean age of respondent is 32.7 ± 4.6 years. Most of the respondents (94.9%) were Yoruba, and almost all (98.5%) were married. About two-thirds (62.5%) of the respondents had secondary education; recipients of tertiary education constituted 33.4%. The mean knowledge score was 17.0 ± 3.6, and a majority (72.8%) of them had poor knowledge while 27.2% had fair knowledge; none of the respondents had good knowledge of the disease condition. The majority (61.4%) of the respondents had a favourable perception (i.e., perception in line with the biomedical world view). The mean perception score was 9.2 ± 2.0. The cooking methods reportedly used included the following: gas cooker (86.9%), stove (34.7%), electric cooker (24.7%) and firewood (3.9%). Most (95.9%) of the respondents had no smoker in their family. Three-quarter (75.0%) of the respondents who had smokers in their family had one smoker. The mean number of smokers in the family was 1.4 ± 0.6. The majority (80.0%) of the respondents reported that they went to hospitals/clinics when pneumonia was suspected while 60.0% visited health care centres; a few (13.3%) of them visited PMV for treatment. Among respondents whose children had experienced pneumonia (3.9%), over 33.3% of them indicated that they visited a health facility while 6.7% used leftover medicines at home Respondents’ level of knowledge was noted to be generally poor, although their perception was generally favourable. Some health seeking behaviours were identified. Some of the mothers whose children had experienced pneumonia visited PMVs for treatment while a few made use of left over medicines. Public enlightenment, peer education, patient education, and community health education activities are recommended to address these concerns.