Cross-sectional Study of Mother's Knowledge Regarding Children Poisoning: Sohag, Egypt

Background: Child poisoning is a prominent public health problem and one of its causes is the lack of knowledge about poisoning in families. Mothers' ignorance not only impacts the management and prevention of the poisoning but also increases the risk of complications, disability, and death. Aim of the work: Assessment mother’s knowledge about poisoning and how to deal in case of their children exposed to poisoning. Patients and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted on 173 mothers of children with history of poisoning from the beginning of septemper 2024 in the pediatrics department of Sohag University Hospitals. A questionnaire included demographic data of mothers, poisoning history of the child and mother's knowledge about poisoning. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 29.1 ± 6.2 years. The majority were married (94.8%), housewives (74.4%), and resided in rural areas (62.4%). 33.5% had university education, 34.1% had secondary education. 58.4% of poisoning occurred in male children and mostly to the first son. Medications, detergents and pesticides were the main causes. 75.1% of children recovered fully, 20.8% had complications and 4.0% died. The majority of mothers had poor knowledge (59.9%) while only 14.0% had a good knowledge. Knowledge level was significantly associated with educational level, occupation, and residence. Children of mothers with higher knowledge scores had better outcomes while complications and deaths were more among children of mothers with poor knowledge. Conclusion: The majority of mothers had poor knowledge. Knowledge level was significantly associated with educational level, occupation, and residence. There was association between outcome and mother’s knowledge.