Abstract:

Background: General danger signs have detrimental effects on under-five children. Early recognition and health seeking practices by mothers, generally help to reduce the mortality rate of under-fives. This study aimed at determining the knowledge and seeking practices of mothers on danger signs at a health facility.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 200 mothers of under-fives at Buzuruga health centre. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire the entered in Microsoft excel 2019 for cleaning. Both descriptive and analytical data were analyzed using STATA version 15, then presented as tables and charts, in frequency and percentages.

Results: Among 200 mothers of under-fives, 121(60.5%) had good knowledge on danger signs of common childhood illnesses. Inability to breastfeed was mostly identified by 131(65.5%) followed by and difficulty in breathing (n=125, 62.5%) and lethargy (n=111, 55.5%). More than a quarter (33.0%) of the participants, took their child to health centre when they get ill while 42(21.0%) used traditional medicines. The health seeking practice is affected majorly by 54(42.5%) mothers who finds child’s condition unserious. Other major factors included lack of belief on hospital treatment and long distance from health facility.

Conclusion: Mothers of under-fives, in this study, have good knowledge on danger signs of common illnesses. They always visit health centres when their child gets ill although a few proportion visit it immediately. Their health seeking practice is affected by their own perception of seriousness of the condition, lacking belief on hospital treatment and long distance to health facility.