A Study to Assess the Knowledge, and Practice on Health Seeking Behaviour of Mothers during Child Illness in Rural Areas of Bangalore, India

Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice regarding the health seeking behavior of mothers having under five children during an illness in rural areas of Bangalore, India. Methods: A community based descriptive study was conducted using the self-structured questionnaire to collect the data. The inferential and descriptive statistics along with the chi-square test (χ2) was carried out to determine the influencing factors of knowledge and practice of mothers. Results: Among the total 60 respondents, about one third 32% respondents had inadequate, where more than half 60% had moderate, and only 8% of respondents had sufficient knowledge. More than one third 42% respondents had inadequate, while less than half 45% respondents had moderate and only 13% respondents had an appropriate practice regarding health seeking behavior of mother during the illness of under-five children. Age, occupation, education, the source of health information of mother, and family income were found a significant positive association, whereas positive correlation found between knowledge and practice score of a mother having under-five children’s regarding health-seeking behaviors (r=0.74, P=0.05). Conclusion: A moderate level knowledge and practice estimated among the respondents, and age, education of mother, per month family income, and source of health information were found to be the affecting factors of a mother having under-five children during childhood illness. To encourage individual mothers and accept healthy behavior, educational and behavior change approaches should be applied through mass media campaigning or communications.