HOME MANAGEMENT OF CONJUNTIVITIS AMONG CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS IN ETI-OSA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, LAGOS STATE

Abstract

Conjunctivitis is the most common infectious disease of the eyes affecting children. In developing countries, poverty, socio-cultural beliefs. taboos and exposure to harmful traditional practices predispose children to conjunctivitis infection which when not properly treated or attended to may lead to complications. Few studies have assessed the home management practices of conjunctivitis, therefore the objectives of this study were to assess mothers' knowledge, perceived severity of their children to conjunctivitis and home management practices of conjunctivitis. The study was cross sectional in design. The study area was selected by random sampling technique. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 422 mothers with children under five years old in Eti-Osa local government area of Lagos state. A 23-item pretested questionnaire was used to conduct interviews with the respondents. The questionnaire sought information on demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude to conjunctivitis, and management practices of mothers. Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 for windows. The age of the respondents ranged from 15-70 years with mean of 34.5 years (± 8.20). Most of the mothers were married 353(83.6%) and 235(55.7%) had secondary education. Even though awareness of conjunctivitis was high 414(98.1%), knowledge of the causation was low as only 19(4.7%) knew that conjunctivitis is caused by bacteria or virus. Misconceptions of notions of causation of conjunctivitis were; god`s anger, hereditary, fever, typhoid, exposure to too much sun, teething and worm, "Apollo" was mentioned by 364(80.2%) of mothers as the local name for conjunctivitis. Majority 357(84.6%) of the respondents could identify a child with conjunctivitis through redness. purulent discharge, itching and watery eyes. About half (49.8%) of the respondents indicated that their children had had their last episode of conjunctivitis prior to the study. Many (47.0%) of the respondents instituted treatment within the first 3 days of conjunctivitis infection. Mothers age and mode of conjunctivitis management were found to be statistically significant, (P=0.03). With respect to mothers' treatment seeking behaviour for conjunctivitis 264(62.5%) practiced self medication such as the use of eyedrops. 70(26.5%), instill breast milk 40(15.1%), wash with urine 36(14.6%). Pour water into the eyes 25(9.4%), use bar beach water 33(12.4%), rub "lead graphite", mentholatum or black soap 28(10.0%), use iced block and 'calcium carbonate' 8(3.0%), use yeast 8(3.0%), use Vaseline 8(3.0%), use water. sugar and chloramphenicol 8(3.0%) while 114(27%) visited health center, 18(4.3%) visited herbalist and 26(6.2%) did nothing. Alternative practices include; use of sugar and water solution. urine, breast milk. "carvone ", Salt and lemon, concoction/herbs, palm wine, petrol, engine oil, snail saliva, battery water and Onion. These are chemically and physically irritating and can damage the eyes. The perceived, outcomes of these management practices were that they were effective in the treatment of conjunctivitis. In conclusion mothers had inadequate knowledge of conjunctivitis. Self treatments using traditional remedies were the most practiced in the management of conjunctivitis. Based on these findings, there is need to improve home management practices of conjunctivitis through basic training of mothers on causes, recognition and appropriate self treatment seeking behaviour for conjunctivitis.