Effectiveness of health education intervention in improving maternal knowledge of otitis media care for children aged under five

Abstract

Objective: To assess the baseline knowledge of mothers regarding pediatric otitis media care and to determine the impact of a structured health education intervention on their knowledge levels immediately post-intervention and at one-month follow-up at Gia Dinh General Hospital, Da Nang. Subjects and methods: A single-group, pre–post interventional study was conducted among 76 mothers whose children under five were hospitalized for otitis media at Gia Dinh General Hospital, Da Nang. Mothers’ knowledge was assessed at baseline (pre-intervention), immediately after the counseling session, and one month after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, the proportion of mothers with adequate knowledge of caring for children with otitis media increased markedly, from 64.5% at baseline to 90.8% immediately post-intervention and 80.3% at one month. The mean knowledge score also improved from 14.66 ± 5.26 at baseline to 19.97 ± 4.56 immediately after the intervention and 17.86 ± 5.69 one month later. Conclusion: Mothers’ knowledge of caring for children under five with otitis media was limited before the intervention and improved significantly following health education counseling. These findings underscore the importance of providing health education and counseling for mothers to enhance the quality of pediatric care and treatment.