Misconceptions and traditional practices toward infant teething symptoms among mothers in eastern Sudan: a cross‒sectional study

There is no much published data on the mothers’ false beliefs about signs and symptoms associated with teething in Sudan. Aim: This cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted to assess mothers` knowledge about infant teething process and to evaluate mothers’ practices used to alleviate teething disturbances in Gadarif city, eastern Sudan. Methods: Questionnaires were used to collect data. Multivariate logistics regression models were performed and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Results/Conclusion: Of a total of 384 participating mothers, 126 (32.8%) had good knowledge about infant teething. The mothers’ knowledge was associated with a higher number of children in the family (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.14) and with having a job (AOR = 2.22). Mothers residing in rural areas (AOR = 0.40) and mothers with lower than secondary education (AOR = 0.43) were less likely to have good knowledge about teething. Diarrhea (88.5%), fever (86.5%), an urge to bite (76.6%), and poor appetite (71.9%) were the signs and symptoms most attributed to teething by mothers. Only the mother’s knowledge about teething was associated with reporting fever as a sign. A considerable number (317; 82.6%) of mothers reported performing “Dokhan” (acacia wood smoke), 313 (81.5%) preferred to administer paracetamol or other systemic analgesics, 262 (68.2%) agreed that a child with tooth eruption should be taken to a hospital or health center, and 216 (56.3%) believed that antibiotics relieved symptoms related to teething.