Evaluation of mothers’ knowledge and practices about shaken baby syndrom

Abstract

Background: Brain damage caused by shaken a baby is called shaken baby syndrome. Because the brains of infants and young children are small and soft, they do not completely fill the skull, so when the child is shaken, the brain hits the skull and causes complications such as stroke, retinal hemorrhage, spinal cord injury, paralysis, seizures, and impaired speech and concentration. . Looking at the results of research conducted in many countries around the world, mothers and caregivers have a low level of knowledge about shaken baby syndrome, so there are many cases of brain damage by shaken their children. was the basis for doing the work. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practices of mothers about shaken baby syndrome and to determine the factors that influence knowledge and practices. Materials and methods: The study to evaluate the knowledge and practices of mothers about shaken baby syndrome was carried out using a quantitative research method and a one-moment model. The survey included 19 general knowledge questionnaires, 10 knowledge evaluation questionnaires, 10 knowledge evaluation questionnaires, and 240 mothers with 0-1 year old children who took care of their children between December 25, 2023 and January 30, 2024 3 groups of 39 questionnaires were used to collect data. When assessing mother’s knowledge about shaken baby syndrome, 0-59% was defined as poor knowledge, 60-79% as medium knowledge, and 80-100% as good knowledge. The research data was entered into the SPSS25 program and appropriate statistical calculations were made. Results: 240 (mean age 30.58 ± 6.601) participants were included in the study to evaluate mothers’ knowledge about shaken baby syndrome. When assessing mothers’ knowledge about shaken baby syndrome, 67.5% had poor knowledge, 17.1% had medium knowledge, and 15.4% had good knowledge. 70% of the participants were repeat mothers and 30% were first-time mothers. 73.6% of first-time mothers had poor knowledge about shaken baby syndrome. There is a statistical difference (p<0.018) in the knowledge level of first-time mothers and repeat mothers about shaken baby syndrome. There is a statistical difference (p<0.023) in the association of education level with mothers’ knowledge about shaken baby syndrome. When evaluating the attitude of the participants in the study, 82.5% of mothers shook their children when their children were restless, when they were stressed, or when they were petting their children. There is a statistically significant difference in relating the practice of shaken your child to psychological problems (p<0.040) and being stressed in the last month (p<0.000). Conclusion: Mothers’ knowledge about shaken baby syndrome is poor. Mothers’ knowledge about shaken baby syndrome varies depending on the level of education. Also, they have more knowledge than repeat mothers and first-time mothers. Mothers with psychological problems and stress in the last 1 month have a habit of shaken their babies.