Parental Knowledge and Practice on the Prevention of Otitis Media of School Children in Bangladesh

Background: Otitis Media (OM) is one of the most common childhood infections and has significant impacts on public health in developing countries, like Bangladesh. Parents’ adequate knowledge and caring practice on OM can prevent the morbidity of preschool or childhood OM significantly. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the level of knowledge and practice regarding the prevention of OM among parents of preschool children. Method: A descriptive type of survey study was carried out from July 2017 to June 2018 in two kinder garden schools in Bangladesh. The study subjects were 120 parents of preschool children who were conveniently selected. The data were collected using a structured Bengali questionnaire after taking informed consent from study participants. Results: The average age of parents was 28.14 years. The means score of knowledge was 8.28 in 22 yes/no questions and out of 17 self-introduced questions, the mean score of practice was 30.36 in 3 point rating scale. Parents’ preventive knowledge significantly correlated with the parents' practice. Parents’ family size and the number of children were significantly correlated with the parents’ knowledge. Other histories like, level of education and the number of children also had a significant correlation with parents’ practice. Conclusion: The results showed a highly significant positive relationship between parents’ preventive knowledge and practice on OM prevention and also indicated that the higher the parent’s preventive knowledge and higher their practice. An educational program can advance the parents’ preventive knowledge to expand their practice in reducing OM and its related complications.