Md. Akhtar -Uz-Zaman1, Tanusree Sarkar2, Khaled Ahmad3, Saima Kamar4,
Smita Roy5, Abdul Khalique Bar-bhuiya6, Shiplur Rahman7
Smita Roy5, Abdul Khalique Bar-bhuiya6, Shiplur Rahman7
1. Senior lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, North East Medical College, Sylhet
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, North East Medical College, Sylhet
3. Assistant Registrar, Department of ENT, North East Medical College Hospital, Sylhet
4. Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College, Sylhet
5. Senior lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, North East Medical College, Sylhet
6. Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, North East Medical College, Sylhet
7. Medical officer, Department of Medicine, Sylhet Osmani Medical College and Hospital, Sylhet
Abstract
Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is an infection that may interfere with normal breathing. Many children who die in developing countries as a result of ARI do not receive adequate treatment during the early stage of the disease because mothers do not recognize the severity of illness well ahead. Simple measure taken by mothers while the children get acute respiratory infection, can prevent many deaths due to these illnesses. This cross sectional study conducted among 285 mothers to assess the mothers’ perception regarding acute respiratory tract infection in children under five years of age. The interview of respondents was performed by using the semi-structured questionnaire. Majority (47.7%) of the respondents were in age group 26-30 years with mean age 26.51 (S.D of ±3.74) years. Maximum mothers (46.7%) had education class 6 to class 10. Mean monthly family income 29535.1 taka with S.D=21600.946. The study also revealed that around all respondents heard the name of acute respiratory tract infection. Fever were described by 100% of the mothers as the common symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection. Regarding health care seeking pattern, 85.6% of the respondents consulted with doctor. Most (97.1%) of the respondents mentioned cold food/drink as the causes of acute respiratory tract infection. In this study, perception level was found to be associated with education level (P=0.000), total monthly family income (P=0.014).
Key Words: Perception, Acute Respiratory Tract Infection, Mothers