Assessment of Mothers' Knowledge, Practices, and Attitudes towards Animal Bites for their Children

Taha, Samah , Mohamed Abdelmonam; Abdelgawad, Sahar Mahmoud Elkhedr; Dawood, Basma Mahmoud Abd Elhamid

doi:10.21608/tsnj.2024.341019

Assessment of Mothers' Knowledge, Practices, and Attitudes towards Animal Bites for their Children

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Master student, Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University, Egypt Nursing specialist, Central Alsanta Hospital, Egypt

² Prof. of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University, Egypt

³ Assistant Prof. Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University, Egypt Assistant Prof. Pediatric Nursing, College of Nursing, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.

10.21608/tsnj.2024.341019

Abstract

Background: Animal bites are common problems in children, with the majority of bites come
from dogs and cats. One of the most important diseases transmitted by animal bites is rabies.
Aim: the present study aimed to assess mothers' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding
animal bites for their children. Design A descriptive research design setting: Emergency
Department of Al-Santa Central Hospital which is affiliated to Ministry of Health and
Population. Subjects: A convenience sampling of all (300) mothers of children complaining
of animal bites was recruited in the current study. Tools: Three tools were used, Tool I;
Mothers’ knowledge regarding animal bites, Tool II; mothers’ reported practices regarding
animal bites and Tool III; mothers' attitudes toward animal bites. Results: the majority of
mothers (92,7%)had low level of total knowledge about animal bites. More than three
quarters of the mothers (76,7%) their total practice was unsatisfactory and 77% of them had
negative attitude regarding animal bites. Conclusion: mothers had low level of knowledge,
unsatisfactory practice and negative attitude toward animal bites. Recommendation:
Educational program should be conducted to mothers at Emergency department to enhance
their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding prevention and caring of children with animal
bites.