Knowledge and practice on drowning prevention for children under 15 years old of parents and health staffs in Tuy Phuoc District, Binh Dinh province in 2015

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the knowledge and practice of drowning prevention for children under 15 years old of parents/caregivers and health staff in Tuy Phuoc District, Binh Dinh province in 2015. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. The data were collected by interviewers using a structured questionnaire on 4467 parents/primary caregivers and 146 health staff. The data was entered and analyzed by SPSS 20.0 software. Results showed that there were 52.6% of parents realized that lakes, rivers, and streams are the most likely environments to drown for children; 15.8% of them had the right knowledge about treating drowning children and knowledge of drowning prevention was less than 50%. The parents
who were had correct practice in preventing children from being exposed to the environment at risk of drowning are 44.7%. The rate of having adequate knowledge about drowning prevention measures in children was 42.5%; The right knowledge about frst aid in drowning was 84.9% and 67.8% of them have been ever provided frst aid to drowning children. There should be an intervention program to improve the knowledge and practice of the community on children drowning prevention.