Prevalence of home related injuries among children under 5 years old and practice of mothers toward first aid in Buraidah, Qassim

BACKGROUND: Unintentional injuries are reported to be the most common mechanism of childhood injuries; large proportion of these occur in or around home. Quick response and appropriate first aid is vital in saving life and preventing negative outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of home injuries among children five years old and younger and to explore their mothers' knowledge, attitude and practice toward first aid. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 mothers attending well baby clinics at primary health care centers (PHCC) in Buraidah city. The survey was conducted from February to June 2020. Simple random sampling was used to select PHCCs and systematic random sampling was used for participant selection. A self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. RESULTS: A history of home-related injury to the youngest child was reported by 114 (46.3%) mothers. The common home injuries were falls (50%), cut wounds (15.2%) and burns (10.7%). Among less than one-year age, injuries were more prevalent among males (41.4%) as compared to females (27.6%). Majority (58.2%) of mothers had fair knowledge about first aid. Internet websites (53.6%) followed by social media (47.6%) were the main sources of their knowledge. Mothers showed appropriate practice in dealing with suspected fracture (85.9%) and foreign body ingestion (80%) while burn (55.5%) and choking (43.2%) had the lowest appropriate practice. CONCLUSION: Home injuries are common among children. However, mothers' knowledge and practice of first aid is inadequate. To reduce the injuries' related morbidity and mortality, increasing awareness and organizing first aid training courses are recommended.