Knowledge and practice about danger sign of ARI among mothers having children under 5 years.

Thesis Report.

SUMMARY: Acute respiratory infection is defined as the acute infective inflammatory changes in any part of respiratory tract, from the nasal mucosa the alveoli, with alteration in the respiratory physiology. This definition excludes the chronic disease like pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchial asthma and others. Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are a major cause of pediatric mortality and morbidity, particularly when associated with delays in treatment The aim of this study was help to assess the knowledge about the danger signs of ARI among mothers having children under 5 year and various practices they adopt to prevent ARI. Descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted in Changu Narayan VDC of Bhaktapur district among 100 mothers having children less than 5 years by using questionnaire through interview technique. Data analysis was done both manually and with the help of SPSS. Mothers were simple random sampling and data was collected by door to door visit. Basically most of the respondents (97%) were found to had heard about ARI. Majority of mothers had wrong perception about ARI i.e they thought cold as its cause whereas only 10% of mothers knew about the infective origin of ARI. Fifty two percent of mothers were unaware about the danger signs of pneumonia. 65% of mothers had correct knowledge about danger signs of pneumonia among which 22.5% mothers percieved difficulty in breathing as its major signs and more than one third of the mothers (32.5%) had wrong knowledge of danger signs. A sizeable number of mothers (2.3%) were found totally unknown about the danger signs of ARI. Household treatment were the predominant interventions proposed by 59% of mothers for the child suffering from mild ARI whereas 20% of mothers still seek traditional healers for its treatment. More than half number of mothers (53% ) would visit hospitals to treat the child suffering from pneumonia. Similarly, 52.5% of the mothers said they would seek health centre services for severe ARI. Traditional practices were the predominant interventions proposed by the mothers i.e 66% of the mothers gave hotwater with ginger or besar as home treatment for ARI. Regarding preventive methods, 60.3% mother said they would prevent ARI by providing child with warm clothes.

Eng.