Main Article Content

Using community-based interventions to improve disease prevention practices of caregivers of under-5s in Ile-Ife, south-western Nigeria


OM Ebuehi

Abstract

Objectives. To compare caregivers’ knowledge and practice of key disease prevention household and community practices in two local government areas (LGAs), in one of which Community-Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (C-IMCI) had been implemented. Design. A cross-sectional design. Setting. Osun State, Nigeria, between August and September 2007. Subjects. Mothers or caregivers of children 0 - 59 months of age and their index children. Results. The IMCI key disease prevention practices were generally better applied in the C-IMCI-compliant LGA than in the non-compliant LGA. Significant differences were observed in the proportion of caregivers who would wash their hands with soap after using the toilet (p=0.0445), after attending to a child who has passed stool (p=0.000), before feeding a child (p=0.000), before preparing food (p=0.000), and before eating (p=0.0385). More caregivers from the compliant than the non-compliant LGA had ever used a method to prevent malaria. More than a quarter of caregivers from the non-compliant LGA did not use any method to prevent malaria. More caregivers from the non-compliant LGA showed deficiencies in their knowledge base of HIV/AIDS infection. Knowledge was particularly poor with respect to mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Only 39% of caregivers from the non-compliant LGA believed that a child can be infected with HIV/AIDS.

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1999-7671
print ISSN: 1994-3032