INTRODUCTION:

Today’s children are the citizens of tomorrow. Children need a very much safe and healthy world. So, it is necessary to safeguard their environment.

Home accidents are the main cause of mortality and morbidity in early childhood and a major factor in loss of productive life. Public health experts have created the term “Modern Day Epidemics” for domestic accidents. Children are especially at risk for injury because of their normal curiosity, impulsiveness and desire to master new skills. Also, children try to imitate adult behaviour from an early age. Under-five children are at high risk for many accidents such as burn and fall¹. Studies in four low-income countries found that 65% of childhood burns had occurred in and around home. WHO’s report about childhood injuries stated that, injuries among under-five children increase with age between one to five years¹. The most common place for young children to be injured is in or around their homes. Injuries affect children of all ages and girls and boys under 5 years of age are at risk. The common injuries and accidents in the home include: cuts, poisoning, choking, electric shocks, falls, drowning and burns. However, many serious injuries can be prevented if parents and other caregivers supervise children carefully and keep their environment safe².

A study with evaluative approach was conducted and the aim of a study was to describe the mother’s education and her knowledge in relation to home accidents prevention in rural area in Sharkia Governorate. The sample consisted of Parents of under five years children in selected rural areas of Nagpur District. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used and Structured questionnaire tool was used. Result: Paired t-test was applied to compare knowledge score before and after structured teaching programme among parents of under five years children. The t-test was found to be 19.72 at the degree of freedom 60 and level of significance 0.05. Hence, null hypothesis is rejected and research hypothesis is accepted. The structured teaching programme on prevention of home accidents is proved to be effective in delivering the knowledge and awareness³

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To assess the level of knowledge regarding management of home accidents among mothers of under five children before and after structured teaching programme.

· To find out the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledgeregarding management of home accidents among mothers of under five children.

· To determine the association between level of knowledge with selected demographic variables.

HYPOTHESIS:

· H1- The mean post-test knowledge score of mothers of under five childrenwill be significantly higher than mean pre-test knowledge

· H2- There will be significant association between knowledge of mothers of under five childrenwith selected demographic variables.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Approach: A Pre-experimental approach.

Research Design: One group pre-test – post-test design.

Population: Mothers of under-five children

Settings: Selected community areas,Tumkur, Karnataka.

Sampling Technique: Simple random sampling technique.

Sample size: 60 mothers of under five children.

Figure 01: - Schematic Representation of Research Design.

Pre-test	Treatment	Post-test
^O₁	X	^O₂

^O₁^:^{Assessment of the pre–test level of knowledge regarding}management of home accidents^{using structured}knowledge questionnaire.

X: Administration of structured teaching programme (Intervention) regarding the management of home accidentson the same day following the pre-test.

^O₂^:^{Assessment of the post-test level of knowledge regarding}management of home accidents^{by using structured}knowledge questionnaireafter a week following the Intervention.

Tools and Technique:

I) Demographic Performa were used to collect socio demographic data such as age, gender, religion, educational status, occupation, sources of information andtype of family.

II) Structured Knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge regarding management of home accidents which consisted of 30 items divided in to six areas (Introduction and definition, meaning, types,risk factors, prevention, first aid and management).

III) Structuredteaching programme (STP) was administered for a duration of 45 minutes for 60 samples in (mothers of under-five children). Lecture cum discussion was used as a teaching methodology along with a variety of AV aids including LCD/PowerPoint presentation, flash cards and video assisted modules.

Method of Data collection:

Data was collected for a period of one month [10^thNovember 2016 to 10^thDecember 2016]. After explaining the purpose and obtaining an informed consent, the pre-test is administered followed by a planned teaching programme. After a period of 07 days a post test is carried.

Inclusion criteria:

mothers of under-five children who were willing to participate in study. mothers of under-five children who were available at the time of data collection.

Exclusion criteria:

Mothers of under-five children who were not willing to participate in study. mothers of under-five children who were not eligible during the period of data collection.

Statistical analysis:

Both Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data [using SPSS version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL)]. Descriptive statistics such as Frequency distribution and percentage were used to describe the socio demographic data and inferential statistics such as Student’s t test was used to find out the effectiveness of STP, paired t-test was used to determine the difference between mean knowledge scores before and after the intervention. Chi-square was performed to find out the association between the knowledge and selected demographic variables. The level P<0.05 was considered as the minimum accepted level of significance.

RESULTS:

Table 01: Frequency distribution,Percentage and Chi-squarevaluesof sample characteristics. (N=60)

Demographic Variables	Frequency Percentage
Age (In years)
≤20 yrs.	11	18.3
21-25 yrs	19	31.7
26-30 yrs.	13	21.7
31-35 yrs	15	25.0
>35 yrs.	2	3.3
Religion
Hindu	17	28.3
Muslim	26	43.3
Christian	17	28.3
Educational status
Illiterate	11	18.3
Primary Education	19	31.7
High School	13	21.7
Higher Secondary	12	20.0
Graduation and above	5	8.3
Educational status of spouse
Illiterate	0	0
Primary Education	20	33.3
High School	25	41.7
Higher Secondary	11	18.3
Graduation and above	4	6.7
Occupation
Home maker	31		51.7
Unskilled worker	4		6.7
Skilled worker	19		31.7
Professional	5		8.3
Any other	1		1.7
Type of family
Nuclear family	18		30.0
Joint family	25		41.7
Extended family	17		28.3
Number of Children
One	11		18.3
Two	2		3.3
Three and above	47		78.3
Source of information
Family and friends	2		3.3
Magazine and Newspaper	44		73.3
Mass media	10		16.7
Others	4		6.7
Any previous exposure to home accidents
Yes	23		38.3
No	37		61.7

Table 02: Frequency distribution and percentage of pre-test and post-test knowledge level regarding home accidents among mothers of under-five children.

Levels		Pre-test		Post-test
Levels		Frequency	Percent	Frequency	Percent
Knowledge	Inadequate	21	35	00	00
	Moderate	39	65	06	10
	Adequate	00	00	54	90
	Total	60	100	60	100

Table-04: - Area wiseMean, SD, Mean Difference and ‘t value’ of level of knowledge among mothers before and after the intervention.

S. No

Area

Stage

Mean ± SD

Mean Difference

Paired t value

P value

Definition and Meaning

Types

Risk factors

Prevention

First aid and Management

Pre-test

Post-test

Pre-test

Post-test

Pre-test

Post-test

Pre-test

Post-test

Pre-test

Post-test

1.50± 0.854

3.08± 0.962

1.35± 0.547

3.23± 0.745

1.50± 0.834

3.45± 0.891

1.17± 0.418

2.32± 0.567

2.38± 1.151

4.25± 0.628

1.58

1.88

1.95

1.15

1.87

14.79*

15.51*

13.07*

13.51*

12.50*

P<0.05

Figure 02: 3D Cone diagram comparing the area wise mean percentage of the pre-test and post-test knowledge scores.

Table 05: Association between knowledge level among mothers of under-five children and selected demographic variables. (N=60)

Demographic Variable	Total score			χ2 Level of significance
Demographic Variable	≤Median (12)≥ Median (12)
Age (In years)
≤20 yrs.	19	11
21-25 yrs	6	7	6.97	S*
26-35 yrs.	4	13
Religion
Hindu	5	12
Muslim	18	8
Christian	6	11
Educational status			8.14	S*
Illiterate and Primary Education	19	11
High SchoolandHigher Secondary	6	7
Graduation and above	4	13
Educational status of spouse			6.97	S*
Illiterate and Primary Education	12	8
Graduation and above	14	11
Graduation and above	3	12	6.5	S*

The above table depicts that the calculated χ²value for age, religion, educational status and educational status of the spousewas significantly higher than the table value (p<0.05 level). So, there is association between age, religion, educational status and educational status of the spouse and knowledge regarding home accidents among mothers of under-five children. Hence the research hypothesis H₂ was accepted. The score changes also reflect the effectiveness of the intervention.

DISCUSSION:

The findings in the present study revealed that the mean pre-test knowledge score regarding home accidents among mothers of under-five children was 12.20±3.704 and the mean post test score was 25.57±3.202. The paired t value [30.28*, degrees of freedom = 59] computed by comparison ofpre and post knowledge score was significant at P<0.05 level.Hence, there is a significant difference in the mean knowledge scores of mothers of under-five children before and after STP which is significant in enhancing the knowledge regarding home accidents among mothers of under-five children. The experimental group shows improvement in knowledge scores compared to the control group. The calculated’ value (t 59= 50.06) is greater than the table value (t 59= 1.68) at 0.05 level of significance shows that there is significantdifference between the pre-test and post- test knowledge score. Therefore, it is interpreted that thestructures teaching programme is significant in improving the knowledge [P< 0.05 level].

This result is supported by various studies. A descriptive study approach was adopted and structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of mothers regarding home accidents. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the 50 samples from the selected community at Mangalore. The results and Conclusion: Majority (36%) of the mothers belonged to the age group 25-31 years. Half (50%) of the samples are belonged to Muslim community, 60% of the samples were from nuclear family, most (36%) of the samples were having one under five child. Majority 34% had pre-university and 30% had secondary school education. Majority (84 %) of the respondents had moderately adequate knowledge, only few (4%) had inadequate knowledge and only 12% had adequate knowledge on prevention of home accidents. The maximum score of knowledge score was about 19, range 16, mean 10.54, standard deviation ±4.20 and the mean percentage was 13. The computed chi-square value chi-square value computed between the level of knowledge and selected demographic variables i.e. age (?22=1.093) Religion (?22=2.155), Type of family (?22=2.614), number of children below 5 years of age (?22=.398) educational status (?23=1.840) of the mothers and whether the child met with any type of accidents (?21=.368) not significant at 0.05 level of significance. Thus, it can be interpreted that there is no significant association between knowledge of mothers of under five children and selected variables. Knowledge of mothers regarding prevention of home accidents was moderately adequate.⁴

CONCLUSION:

The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding management of home accidents among the mothers of under-five children at selected community areas, Tumkur, Karnataka. The results of the study undoubtedly confirm that the post-test knowledge score is significantly higher than the pre-test knowledge score. Therefore, it is concluded that STP is significantly effective in enhancing the knowledge regarding home accidents among mothers of underfive children.

LIMITATIONS:

· The study used a simple random sampling technique, so that the generalization of findings remains restricted.

· The influence of extraneous variables during the period between the pre-test and post-test cannot be explored.

· No follow-up was made to measure the retention of knowledge.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· A similar study can be replicated among staff nurses.

· A comparative study can be conducted between eligible couples in the rural and urban area.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Following ethical clearance from the institutional committee, the researcher then obtained formal permissions from the concerned authorities to conduct the study. Also, a voluntary written informed consent was obtained from the study participants after explaining the objectives of the study. Confidentiality was ensured throughout the course of the study.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:

None

REFERENCE:

1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/burns

2. https://www.unicef.org/uganda/key-practice-managing-child-injuries-and-accidents-home#:~:text=The%20common%20injuries%20and%20accidents,and%20keep%20their%20environment%20safe.

3. Awale Pratiksha, Bathe Himanshu, Betal Hina, Bhaisare Pratiksha, Bike Rahul, Dhawale Sima, D’silva Shereyle, Fendar Payal, Hanokh. J. Chakranarayan, Sneha R. Dubey. A Study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding prevention of home accidents among parents of under five years children in selected rural areas of Nagpur District.Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2018; 8(2): 205-208.

4. Annmariya T.A, Arya K, Binni Varughese, Diniya M.T, FestimolPinhero, Jubi Biju, Mariya Johny, Saranya Sasi, Sowmya M.N, Stephy S, Florine Clara Fernandes. A study to assess the knowledge regarding the prevention of home accidents among the mothers of under-five children in a selected community, Mangalore. International Journal of Advances in Nursing Management. 2021; 9(4):408-2.

Received on 22.08.2023 Modified on 17.09.2023

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2023; 11(4):255-259.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2023.00057

Stage	Mean	SD	Mean Difference	df	T value	p
Pre-test	12.20	3.704	13.37	59	30.28*	1.68
Post-test	25.57	3.202