Knowledge of portuguese parents and caretakers about first aid in domestic accidents

Abstract

Objective: identifying the level of knowledge of parents/caretakers of children with regards to first aid in domestic accidents, and whether it has any association with sociodemographic factors. Method: cross-sectional study, carried out in the Hospital Center in Trás os Montes and Alto Douro, in Vila Real, Portugal, during pediatric outpatient consultations from May to June 2018. Parents/caretakers of children from 5 to 9 years of age were included, and parents/caretakers who were not Portuguese were excluded. The population was divided in two subgroups, according to the level of knowledge: ≤19 right answers (little/medium knowledge); ≥20 (good/very good knowledge). A form with 27 questions was used for data collection. Results: among the 54 participants, 33 (61.2%) had good/very good knowledge; the lack of knowledge about first aid after wounds caused by falls and burns was prevalent. Conclusion: although the knowledge of parents/caretakers was found to be good/very good, there was no significant association of their knowledge with sociodemographic factors.