Level of Knowledge About Neonatal Danger Signs and Determinant Factors Among Recently Delivered Mothers in Mekedella Woreda, Northeast Ethiopia 2018: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Neonatal mortality remains the major public health problem of Ethiopia. The problem is mothers' low level of health seeking behavior, which might be due to their inadequate level of knowledge about neonatal danger sign. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing mothers' level of knowledge and associated factors of neonatal danger sign in Mekedella woreda, Northeast Ethiopia. Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was employed from October 23 to November 17, 2018 on 728 participants that selected by Stratified simple random sampling technique. Data were collected by a pre-tested interview administered questionnaire, entered to Epi data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Independent predictors of women's level of knowledge were identified by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Result: Among 728 respondents, only 28.2 % (205) of mothers were knowledgeable about neonatal danger sign. Attended secondary education (AOR=4.22), Urban residence (AOR=2.62), attended 2-3 ANC visit (AOR= 2.38), delivered in health center & Hospital (AOR=3.75) & (AOR=2.56) respectively, Attended PNC visit(AOR=4.23), higher decision-making ability of women to seek neonatal health care (AOR=3.13), Immunization status of infant (AOR=2.9), heard from Health worker about neonatal ganger sign (AOR=3.6), had history of neonatal death (AOR=4) were significant predictor of women's level of knowledge on newborn danger sign.   Conclusion: Women education, health service utilization by mothers before, during and after delivery and the health education given when mothers come to pregnancy related services showed positive impact on their knowledge of neonatal danger signs. Therefore, educating mothers about neonatal danger sign should be strengthened. Funding Statement: The authors declare: "Not applicable." Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical clearance was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee of Jimma University, College of Medicine and Health science. Respondents were informed about the objective of the study and Verbal consent was taken for the willingness of patients to participate. Participants’ identity was kept anonymous throughout the data collection and analysis process. Verbal consent was approved and accepted by the department ethical committee.