Abstract

Introduction: Home Accidents have been identified as the largest single cause of death after the age of one year and are among the most severe health problems facing the world today.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess mothers knowledge on the causes and prevention of home accidents among children aged 0-5 years old in the Ndongo community.

Methods: The study employed 50 mothers using the survey research methodology and questionnaires as the main instrument of data collection. The results of the data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 and data was presented using descriptive statistics

Results: At the end of this study, findings revealed that the mean age of the mothers is 31.5years old, with (30)60.0% of the mothers between the age group 26-36years old. With respect to marital status, (30)60.0% of the mothers were married. Majority of the respondents were educated with 44.0% achieving a tertiary level of education. (32)64.0% of the mothers are public servant. The average family size is 5-6 persons a home, with 42.0% constituting of 3-4children who live in upstairs houses.

In Ndongo the incident of home accident was revealed to be 84.0%. Major type of domestic accidents include Fall-Slipping (45)(90.0%), Burn (86.0%), Choking/Asphyxia (52.0%), Stab Injury (4.0%), Swollen Bead (14.0%), Animal bite (24.0%) and Drowning (4.0%). The rate of occurrence of these domestic accidents twice (25) (50.0%).

Accidental swallowing of detergents (96.0%), drugs (84.0%), contact with hot water (32) (64.0%), child close contact with fire(44)(88.0%) and lack of supervision at home are some of the mothers’ knowledge associated with domestic accidents at home.

With regards to the knowledge of mothers at home towards the prevention of home accidents, it was observed that mothers generally have a positive knowledge at preventing home accidents .as Active supervision (37)(80.0%), Reduces  home accidents (35)(74.0%), maintaining safety precautions at home(41) (82.0%), Putting things out of children reach (43)(86.0%) and teaching child to be cautious in hurtful situations (45)(90.0%) were some of the issues revealed by mothers as  measures of prevention of home accidents.

Conclusion, this study assessed the knowledge of Ndongo mothers towards the causes and prevention of home accidents among children aged 0-5 years old.

Recommendation: base on the findings this study will make the following recommendations

There should be an urgent need for educational programmer regarding on home accidents and its management for mothers who have young children. This could be done by the use of TV media broadcasting. It is also important to develop the attitude of being each other’s keeper on matters relating to home accidents.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Home Accidents have been identified as the largest single cause of death after the age of one year and are among the most severe health problems facing the world today. In both the industrialized world and developing countries, accidents remain one of the major five leading causes of deaths.

According to the World Health Organization (2014) every year about, 830,000 children die from home accidents worldwide. This corresponds to 2,000 child deaths in a day. In addition, majority of children (millions) have been referred to hospital due to home accident-related to injuries, eventually resulting in permanent disabilities.

Though the actual number of accidents and associated harms cannot be established, home accidents are greater than traffic and occupational accidents. This is because there are insufficient records and data from hospitals and this doesn’t present all relevant figures (Tanir, 2012)

The Center for Disease Control (2011) observed that home accidents make up the third leading cause of emergency department visits in the USA and in the United Kingdom it is noted that 40% of all accidents occur at home whiles 2,700,000 people get treatment relating to home accidents. Similarly, 7,000 deaths are recorded annually due to home accidents (Helman et al., 2014).

Accidents also impose great psychological strains on families and society (Alizadeh et al., 2017).

According to a report of the World Health Organization in 2008, mortality rate in children under 5 years of age has decreased from 72 in every 1000 children in 1999 to 35 in every 1000 children in 2006. However, it is acknowledged that children are still vulnerable to many risks. Microscopic organisms and viruses are no longer major threats to children’s health. On the other hand, lifestyle, environment, and social conditions put children at risk of accidents in the modern era

According to Paudel et al. (2014), one factor that plays a critical role both in occurrence and the severity of an injury is the environment of the child. Most injuries which occur to the child take place near him. Paudel et al. (2014) further argued that majority of accidents happens in the living room; nonetheless the most severe accidents occur in the kitchen.

Baker et al. (1974) opined that injuries cause almost half of all deaths among children aged 1-4 years), as home is the place where children spend most of their time in, this is where most injuries occur, especially among younger children (Maciel et al., 2004).

Home accidents differ from country to another due to many factors such as economic and cultural factors. Although accidental injuries to infants and young children are often serious; they are generally avoidable with appropriate information and safe practices. Young children are mostly prone to injuries due to their inborn quest to discover their world coupled with their inability to notice the dangers of their activities.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Injuries related to home accidents are gradually becoming health problems in our communities.

Household mishaps are a major cause of accidental death in many countries. The frequency and severity rate of accident vary from country to country and home to home. Home accident destroys the health, lives and independence of many Cameroonians, yet home accident prevention receives little or no attention.

In many situations children are continually exposed to danger and passive protection will never be enough as such this study is out to examine mother’s knowledge on the causes and prevention of home accidents amongst children aged 0-5years in the Ndongo community

1.2 Objective of the study

The main objective of this study is to assess mother’s knowledge on the causes and prevention of domestic accidents amongst children (0-5) years of age.

1.3 Specific objectives

1. To assess mothers knowledge on the causes of home accidents
2. To assess mothers knowledge on the preventing home accidents among children o-45 years in Ndongo.

1.4 Research questions

1. What is the knowledge do mothers of children 0-5 years old in the Ndongo community have on the causes of home accident.
2. What knowledge do mothers of children 0-5 old in Ndongo community have on the prevention of home accident?

1.5 Justification

In Cameroon, there is little known about the knowledge, attitude and perception of the mother on the preventive measures available for home accidents. Data on home accident are not easy to come by, they are very scanty more so, an extensive review by previous researcher e.g. scholar has failed to examine the prevalence, sources and consequences of home accident in Cameroon generally and in Buea Municipality and Ndongo community in particular.