Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mothers on Prevention and Control of Intestinal Parasitic Infestations in Sekota Town, Waghimra Zone, Ethiopia
Abstract Background Intestinal parasites were a major public health problem in many developing countries. It accounts for 1.5 billion infections with one or more causative agents. The national prevalence of helminthiasis in Ethiopia was 29.8% with considerable variability across the different regions. Young children had a high infection rate and suffered with a substantial worm burden of A. lumbricoides, trichuris trichiura and schistosomes . Parasitic infection has also serious consequences on human health, such as hepatomegaly, bleeding, esophageal varices, delay in physical development. It also decrease the immunity system, level of intelligence, and labor productivity. Therefore, this study was intended to assess mothers’ knowledge, attitude and practice on prevention and control of intestinal parasitic infection among their preschool children in Sekota town, Waghimra zone, EthiopiaMethods A cross sectional study was carried out on 378 mothers who had under six years but over two years old children. Although, 384 mothers were selected using sample size calculation in the year 2019, the data was collected from 378 mother-child pairs. A face to face interview was performed using pretested and structured questionnaire in the urban villages, Sekota town. The level of maternal knowledge, attitude and practice were presented in percentage, frequency and table. Results The overall level of good knowledge or knoledgable, positive attitude and good practice of mothers towards intestinal parasites prevention and control in considering their preschool children in Sekota town was 45.2%, 55.3% and 51.1% respectively. Seventy seven 77(20.4%) respondents reported that they knew Ascaris Lumbricoids , 62 (16.4%) participants wash vegetables as a means of intestinal prevention, and 252 (66.7%) of participants stated that their children had at least one stool examination previously.Conclusions The overall level of optimum knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers on prevention and control of intestinal parasites is low. In particular, the level of optimal knowledge is very low in this study. According to the median parameter, 50% and above of mothers had both positive attitude and good practice. But mothers who were knowledgeable fall below 50%. Therefore, community awareness about intestinal parasitic infestations prevention and control should be created with special emphasis on mothers.