Recognition of danger signs in children under 5 and it’s associated factors among caregivers in Pahang

• Main Authors: Kamaruzaman, Nor Azam, Mohd Juhan, Nik Fahmi, Draman, Samsul, Pasi, Hafizah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/95679/3/95679_Recognition%20of%20danger%20signs%20in%20children%20under%205.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/95679/

Caregivers’ knowledge and experiences in handling unwell children are essential in caring for their young children, as it predicted appropriate health seeking behavior. We aim to identify the association between correct recognition of danger signs for children under 5 with caregivers’ source of health information and past experiences. Majority of the caregivers were female (90.6%), of Malay ethnicity (89.3%) with the mean age of 32  6. 61.8% to 81.9% of caregivers have correct response for 9 out of 10 danger signs. Their main sources of information were healthcare providers, HCP (64.4%), child health’s record book, BRKK (56.0%) and the internet (55.5%). In term of past experiences, 31.3% and 6.9% of caregivers have had managed serious condition and death among children respectively. Significant associations were found between correct responses with seeking information from BRKK (χ2 5.13, p=0.024), HCP (χ2 5.42, p=0.02), “Mother’s card” (χ2 5.771, p=0.016) and magazines (χ2 7.941, p=0.005), while incorrect responses with friends as source of information (χ2 3.86, p=0.049), and past experience of serious condition (χ2 5.821, p=0.016). In conclusion, empowering caregivers with reliable health information resources is crucial in primary care as it might influence parental knowledge. Direct interaction with health care providers and printed materials are still relevant medium among caregivers.