%A Ezechukwu, Clement
%A Egbuonu, lfeoma
%A Ugochukwu, Ebelechuku
%A Chukwuka, John
%T Mothers' belief about infant teething in Nnewi, south eastern Nigeria
%9 Original Article
%D 2004
%J Sahel Medical Journal
%P 84-87
%V 7
%N 3
%U https://www.smjonline.org/article.asp?issn=1118-8561;year=2004;volume=7;issue=3;spage=84;epage=87;aulast=Ezechukwu
%8 July 1, 2004
%X Objective: To ascertain the symptoms ascribed to, and . remedies given for teething In infants by mothers in Nnewi South eastern Nigeria .
M ethodology: A pre-tested, open-ended questionnaire was administered to 161 consecutive mothers
tending the paediatric outpatient and the infant welfare clinics of Nnamdi Aziklwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi , Nigeria . Data collect e d included mothers' educational attainment; attendance to ant e natal clinics , infant welfare clinics ; talks on teething during those clinic sessions; the stage of development and the type of feeding at the time of teething; the symptoms attributed to teething ; the remedies applied and the source of their prescription. Analysis was done using SSPS statistical pa c kage .
Results: All the mothers recruit ed for the study had basic education . Seventy-seven mothers (47.8% ) had secondary school education , while 18 (11.2% ) and 66 (41.0% ) had attained primary and tertiary l evel s of education . re spectively . The commo.nest symptom was fever , while symptom-free teething was noted b y 5 .0% of mothers . ' T eething powder' was the most frequently utilized remedy (44 .1 % ) . O ther mothe rs ( respondents' peers) and their mothers (infants' grandmothers) constituted the main sources of prescription of the re medies ; 41 .1 % and 31.3, respectively. The majority (64 .0") of the babies were on t:;omplementa ry feeds and at the sitting -up and crawling stages . There was no significant d ifference in the beliefs or remedies give n by mot hers of differing educational levels.
Conclusion: There is need for well pa ckaged health education on teet hing as a natural process at every available health delivery outlet in order to correct the misconceptions about teething , eradicate the myth s associated with it , treat infants appropriately when they are sick and avoid u nnecessary expenditure on drugs .
%0 Journal Article
%I Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
%@ 1118-8561