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Humanities
- ISSN: 2155-7993
- Journal of Modern Education Review
Effect of Health Education on Knowledge of Prevention of Under-five Diarrhoea among Mothers Attending Immunization
Clinic in Ibadan Metropolis
Olubunmi Omowumi Olopha1, Benjamin Oluwasegun Ogundele2
(1. University College Hospital, Ibadan; 2. University of Ibadan, Ibadan)
Abstract: Maternal and child health constitute significant indicators of the overall health status of a nation and Nigeria remains a country with low maternal and child health indices. High maternal and child morbidity and mortality rate and ratio, among others have repeatedly dwarfed Nigeria’s quest to advance and maintain a steady record in the United Nation Development Programme annual Human Development Index Report. Morbidity and mortality associated with under-five diarrhoea make up significant proportion of the poor child health record in the country despite the fact the disease can be prevented and managed using easy and cost-effective strategies.
Adequate knowledge of this disease and its control, beyond mere awareness, is crucial to realizing drastic reduction in diarrhoea related sickness and death among children. Health education has overtime proven to be a potent tool in impacting health knowledge which is in turn vital to bringing about attitudinal change thereby resulting in positive health behaviour necessary for prevention of diseases, as well as for the protection and promotion of personal and community health. Previous empirical evidence has shown that mothers of under-five children in Ibadan metropolis have poor level of knowledge on diarrhoea prevention and control. It is in the bid of finding solution to this problem that this study was designed to investigate the effect of health education on
knowledge of prevention of under-five diarrhoea among mothers in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. The pretest-posttest quasi experimental non-equivalent groups design using 2×2×4 factorial matrix was adopted and a sample of 196 participants was drawn for the study. Data was collected using self-developed and validated
questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.76 on the Cronbach alpha scale and analyzed using ANCOVA at 0.05 alpha level. The result revealed that the Health Education intervention tagged diarrhoeal control education was highly effective in improving the knowledge of mothers on under-five diarrhoeal prevention. Adoption of the intervention programme and getting its contents across to others using information, education and communication materials and the mass media was recommended.
Key words: diarrhoeal control education, knowledge, prevention, under-five diarrhoea
