The knowledge of "Facts for Life".

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: "Facts for Life" is an essential tool for saving the lives of children. In this study we wanted to evaluate the knowledge of "Facts for Life" among Turkish women. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional field study. We used 25 indicator questions to evaluate the knowledge of women in the following main subjects: safe motherhood, childhood immunization, childhood diarrhoea, children's acute respiratory diseases, and household hygiene. We filled out printed questionnaires during face-to-face interviews. For each correct answer we gave 4 points, and the sum of the points was accepted as the knowledge score. SETTING: Bursa metropolitan area in Turkey. SUBJECTS: Married women between 15-44 years of age. We selected 1000 of them from the household cards of the health centers that were located at the Bursa metropolitan area by using a random selection method. RESULTS: Mean knowledge score was 72.0 +/- 0.3. About 3/5 had moderate, 1/5 good + very good, and 1/5 bad knowledge scores. Childhood diarrhoea was better known than acute respiratory diseases. The very well known "Facts for Life" were those concerning food and household hygiene. CONCLUSION: Women's knowledge about "Facts for Life" was at a moderate level. The knowledge level of older women was better than the younger. Some false beliefs still existed. Knowledge about ARI and diarrhoeal diseases in childhood were the least known facts.