Attitudes of mothers towards protecting their children from home accidents and the affecting factors

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted in order to determine the attitudes of mothers towards protecting their children from home accidents and the affecting factors. Methods: The study was carried out as a cross-sectional and descriptive study between March 01, 2014 and June 15, 2015 in a region of Family Health Center (FHC) in a city center located in Eastern Turkey. The study population consisted of mothers having at least one child aged between 1 and 3 years who were registered at this FHC. The study population consisted of 400 mothers selected by non-random accidental sampling method from the population mentioned above. The data were collected through ``Information Form'' and ``Knowledge of the Mothers of 0-6-Year Old Children about Safety Precautions for the Prevention of Home Accidents Scale''. Percentage distributions, mean, standard deviation, independent samples t-test, variance, kruskal Wallis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient calculation were used to assess the data. Results: It was found that the children of 57.3% of the mothers experienced a home accident and among these children, 55.0% fell from a height, 15.2% hit somewhere or something and 12.5% had burns. It was determined that mean score of ``Knowledge of the Mothers of 0-6 -Year Old Children about Safety Precautions for the Prevention of Home Accidents Scale'' was 179.74 +/- 12.91. It was also found that mother's education and employment status, education status of the father and the number of children affected the attitudes of mothers towards protecting their children from home accidents (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that the attitudes of the mothers of children who did not have a home accident were better than the attitudes of those whose children experienced any home accident. The variables of the mother's education and employment status, education status of the father and the number of children affected these attitudes of mothers. As a recommendation, the nurses should asume their roles as instructors, counsellors, so as to encourage mothers/families to change their awareness, attitudes, and behaviours with the intention to prevent home accidents.