Year: 2026 | Month: January | Volume: 16 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 243-250
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20260128
Health Literacy of Mothers and Their Care Behaviours in Preventing Respiratory Tract Infections Among Under-Five Children
Elveena Vincent1, Josy A Mathew2
1M.Sc. Nursing student, Department of Child Health Nursing, Lourdes College of Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Ernakulam, INDIA.
2Professor, Department of Child Health Nursing, Lourdes College of Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Ernakulam, INDIA.
Corresponding Author: Elveena Vincent
ABSTRACT
Introduction: In children under five, acute respiratory infections (ARI) account for over 20% of all pediatric mortality globally. ARI is the leading cause of morbidity and disease in under-five children. The ongoing burden of child mortality is a significant loss of life; in 2020 alone, five million children passed away before turning five, even in the absence of a rise in mortality linked to COVID-19. The Indian Academy of Paediatrics estimates that 2.36 million cases of ARI were recorded in India in 2020. The objectives of the study are:
Material and methods: A descriptive cross sectional design was used. Consecutive sampling method was used to select 100 mothers of under-five children. Data was collected using modified health literacy scale (HLSMQ-18) and Care Behaviour Rating Scale.
Results: Findings show that 49% of mothers had excellent health literacy, 38% had sufficient health literacy and 13% had limited health literacy. Among the sample, health care domain revealed the highest score (15.27±2.46), followed by disease prevention (14.32±2.90) and health promotion (12.12±2.07). With regard to care behaviours 88% had very good care behaviour, 11% had good and 1% had average care behaviour with a mean score of (65.22, SD±6.917). A positive correlation was found between health literacy and care behaviour (r=+0.26, p=0.009).
Conclusion: The study concluded that as the health literacy increases, care behaviours of mothers also increase in preventing respiratory tract infections. The study recommends executing more programs in hospital as well as in community which aim to improve the health literacy of care givers of children to enhance the care behaviours in preventing the respiratory tract infections.
Key words: Health literacy; Care behaviours; Prevention of respiratory infections; Under-five children.