Compliance of Rural Mothers with Preventive Behaviors of Respiratory Tract Infection to Their Children

Background: Respiratory tract infections are one of the most common causes of under-five morbidity and mortality. So, it is necessary for mothers to comply with preventive behaviors of respiratory tract infections. The aim of the study: was to assess the compliance of rural mothers with preventive behaviors of respiratory tract infection to their children. Subjects and methods: A descriptive research design was used in the study , and it was conducted in rural health unit at Nawag rural village – Tanta center - El Gharbia Governorate. Subjects: A convenience sample of 300 of rural mothers who are attending to the previous setting were included in the study. Tool of the study: One tool ( a structured interview schedule) was used to obtain the necessary data for the study. It consisted of three parts as following: part (1): Socioeconomic status of rural mothers and health history of their under-five children. Part (2): Knowledge of rural mothers about respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Part (3): Assessment of compliance degree of rural mothers regarding preventive behaviors of respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Results: There was statistically significance positive correlation between total knowledge score, total compliance score of the studied rural mothers and family socio-economic status as (p=<0.001). Conclusion and recommendations: more than one-third of rural mothers had low level of knowledge, about one-third of them had moderate level of knowledge, and only one-quarter of them had high level of knowledge about RTIs. Furthermore, more than one-third of the studied rural mothers had moderate and higher compliance to preventive behaviors of RTIs while, only (17.3%) of them were having lower compliance with preventive behaviors of RTIs. So, we recommended continuous education and orientation programs for parents especially rural mothers of under-five children with RTIs to increase their knowledge and compliance with preventive behaviors regarding respiratory tract infections.