Parental knowledge of developmental milestones in Peshawar, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Developmental milestones are significant achievements in a child's growth and development across various domains including physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, and adoptive development. These milestones mark important transitions from simple reflexes to complex skills and behaviors in a child's life. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted involving 225 parents using convenience sampling at the pediatrics OPD of Northwest General Hospital, Peshawar. The study was conducted in June 2024. A structured questionnaire was employed to assess parental knowledge of developmental milestones and their sources of information. The data was analyzed using SPSS v27. This study aimed to assess parental knowledge regarding developmental milestones in children. It also explores various sources used by the parents for information regarding their children's health and development. Two hundred twenty-five parents including 89 (39.6%) males and 136 (60.4%) females averaging 35.5 years of age participated in the study. Two hundred twenty-two (98.7%) were married and more than half were working jobs or owning businesses. Parents showed poor levels of knowledge in all four domains, i.e., physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. They scored 9.2% in physical, 20.6% in cognitive, 14.5% in social, and 10.07% in emotional developmental milestones. Most parents (161 (75%)) relied on advice from friends and family. Parenting seminars and courses were unpopular sources of information as more than 193 (85%) "never" attended any. No significant difference (p > 0.05) in knowledge was observed across different genders of the parents and child, socioeconomic status, and education level. The knowledge of "emotional developmental milestones" showed a slightly positive statistically significant correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient, 0.149; p-value = 0.026) with "the number of children under 14."

Conclusion: Parents are poorly informed about developmental milestones. Most parents rely on relatives and friends instead of parenting workshops, courses, or consulting their caregivers and doctors.

What is known: • Parents in the Northwestern regions of Pakistan have one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. • No studies have been done to investigate parental knowledge regarding the development of children in Peshawar, Pakistan.

What is new: • Parents in Peshawar, Pakistan have subpar knowledge of developmental milestones of children. • Most parents rely on advices from their friends and family instead of attending parenting seminars, reading books or other r helpful material.