CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Home sweet home is that common expression many people say each time they come back home after a long holiday or a full day at work to meet their kids in a happy mood. However this happy heaven considered home is becoming more unsecured as domestic accidents are responsible for many daily injuries mostly affecting children.

• Background to the study

Accidental injuries remain the leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 19 years and are the fifth leading cause of death among infants (Peggy, 2012). Most injury-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries where knowledge is limited regarding injury prevention (Rezapur,2008). Every year, millions of children are permanently disabled or disfigured because of accidents (Laursen,2009).

In UK, one of the leading causes of death among children under five years was found to be domestic accidents (Awqati,2008).

Domestic accidents are considered unintentional injuries such poisoning, intoxication, burns, and electric shock firearm accidents, among others. They are responsible for high morbidity and mortality among children, being considered a public health problem New patterns of injury attributable to domestic accidents emerge with each new technical or cultural change (Aggarwal,2010).  Accidents can take place in a wide variety of environments. However, the home is the most likely location for accidents involving children. Accidents occurring in the home are a major cause of death and injury.

Children  are  the  most  loved  and  important group  of  our  population  who  are  mostly depended  on  mothers (Tsoumakas,2009).  Mother is a significant caregiver and responsible for the safety of children.  Throughout the world domestic accidents reached major epidemic proportion (Mackessack,2007).  Home  accidents  are  unexpected, unplanned,  harmful  and  sudden  occurrence affecting a child which may produce injury and  sometimes  lead  to  medical  consultation (Tursz,1990).  In developing countries, common injuries occur  at  home  and  neighboring environment (Neitzel,2005).  According to the World Health  Organization,  in  India,  unplanned injuries ranks fourth among the leading reason of death of  children (WHO,2008). Children lead to the injury because of their impulsiveness, curiosity and  desire  to  use  new  skill  and  copy  adult behavior  from  an  initial  age (Ashwill, 1997).  Home accidents differ from country to country due to economic and cultural  factors.  The largest number of accident occurs in the living room, and serious accident in the kitchen (Hadd  ,1994). Children suffer with  many  injuries  occurring  in  and around home (Phelan,2005). Household accident such as  falls,  burns,  fires,  suffocation,  poisoning, chocking,  laceration  and  cuts  are  common among  children  etc. (Rivara  2001).  In  developing countries  household accidents  are one of  the five  leading  causes  of  death (Goldman,1995).  Domestic accident is the leading cause of death and is a major reason for hospital admission and long-term disability (Robinson, 2003).  Around 15,281 toddlers were killed due to unplanned accidents and in 2005, almost 120,000 deaths were due to the accidents at home (Gururaj,2009).  In the United States, almost 3,308 unintended drowning cases were reported, which was an average of nine kids per day . Around 19%  of  drowning  death includes  cases  among  children.  About 283 serious cases of drowning among toddler were found during 2005–2007, in which 46% were girls and 65% were boys . Poisoning is more frequent in toddler boys than girls because boys are more active and enterprising than girls.  Studies of parent’s socialization indicate that parents offer great time to issue of safety especially during  the  preschool  year. Preschooler likes to push minor thing into the mouth, nose and ear (National Safety Council; 1991). Implementation of the risk management and environment changes aids to prevent access supervision, hazards, and teaching about security (Garling,1995). In the present study  researcher  included  toddlers  below  3 years  of  age,  with  the aim  to  determine  the teaching  strategy  for  guardian  usage  which helps  to  boost  the  knowledge  of  mothers regarding the prevention of household mishaps and to increase the worth of life.

1.1 Problems Statement

In the world today domestic accidents is becoming a cankerworm amongst toddlers between 0-5. Poisoning is more frequent in toddler boys than girls because boys are more active and enterprising than girls.  Studies of parent’s socialization indicate that parents offer great time to issue of safety especially during the preschool year. Preschooler likes to push minor thing into the mouth, nose and ear. Implementation of the risk management and environment changes aids to prevent access supervision, hazards, and teaching about security. In the present study  researcher  included  toddlers  below  3 years  of  age,  with  the aim  to  determine  the teaching  strategy  for  guardian  usage  which helps  to  boost  the  knowledge  of  mothers regarding the prevention of household mishaps and to increase the worth of life.

1.2 Research Questions

What level of knowledge do parents have on domestic accidents in children aged 0-5?

Objectives

1. General objectives

To assess parents knowledge on domestic accidents in children aged 0-5 in the Muea neighborhood.

1. Specific objectives

To identify the level of knowledge, parents have on domestic accidents in children aged 0-5.

To investigate parents knowledge on the risk of domestic accidents

To identify the knowledge and to find out the effectiveness of teaching strategy regarding household accident among toddlers.