Knowledge of Neonatal Danger Signs and Associated Factors Among Mothers of <6 Months Old Child in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Neonatal mortality is one of the challenging issues in current global health. Globally, about 2.5 million children die in the first month of life, out of which Sub-Saharan Africa accounts >40% per annual. Currently, the neonatal mortality rate in Ethiopia is 30/1000 live births. In the study area, there was a limitation of data on mothers’ knowledge towards neonatal danger signs. Therefore, this study aimed to assess mothers’ knowledge of neonatal danger signs and associated factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional design study was conducted in Dire Dawa from March 01/2019 to April 30/2019. Data were collected from 699 randomly selected mothers through a face-to-face interview. Bivariate logistic regression with p-value <0.25 was entered into the multivariable logistic regression analysis. Finally, AOR with 95% confidence intervals at P-value <0.05 was considered a significant association with the outcome variable. RESULTS: About 285 (40.8%) (95% CI: 37.3–44.3) of mothers had good knowledge of neonatal danger signs, and 97.1% (95% CI: 94.1, 99.3) of mothers sought medical care at a health facility. Mothers who were governmental employed (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.17–3.9), whose fathers’ educational level is secondary or above (AOR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.18–4.49), four/more antenatal care visit (AOR=4.3, 95% CI: 1.5–12.3), whose baby developed danger signs (AOR=3.5, 95% CI: 2.13–5.73), and those mothers received education on neonatal danger sign (AOR=7, 95% CI: 4.2–11.5), had a significant association with knowledge of neonatal danger signs. CONCLUSION: Maternal knowledge toward neonatal danger signs was low and a high number of mothers sought medical care at a health facility. Mother’s occupation, fathers’ education, development of neonatal danger signs, frequency of antenatal care visit, and received health education on neonatal danger signs were factors associated with mothers’ knowledge towards neonatal danger signs.