Health parameters related to maternal education in Iranian families with young children

Abstract

Background: Status of maternal education has a direct association with the incidence of childhood mortality. Despite many collected data about maternal education in developing countries, similar studies in transitional countries are low. Objectives: The overall aim of this study was to define the relationship between maternal education and a variety of health parameters in families with young children. Methods: In this study, 1112 families were enrolled. Data relevant to the factors linked with health parameters was collected through face-to-face interviews with parents. The infants aged 6 - 24 months were brought to the out-patient clinics of Taleghani and Mofid children teaching hospitals, Tehran, Iran, for vaccinations, checkups, or minor childhood illnesses. According to level of education, the mothers were divided to two groups: those who had received formal education for at least nine years (group A) and those with less than nine years of education (group B). Results: The rate of single child (68.33%, P = 0.000) and cesarean delivery (61.53%, P = 0.000) was significantly higher in educated mothers (> 9 years). Conversely, frequency of low birth weight infant (9.1%, P = 0.021) and hospitalization after the neonatal period (15.4%, P = 0.024), in families with low maternal education, was significantly increased. Overall, 28.9% of children were exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS), which in all cases, fathers were responsible for the exposure (P = 0.00). Maternal education was significantly associated with infants’ exposure to SHS from their smoking fathers. Conclusions: Our findings revealed the significant effect of maternal education on health parameters and indicated that low maternal education may increase the risk of mortality in infants.