Assess the Knowledge and Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme regarding the Acute Respiratory Tract Infection among mothers of under five children

Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is a serious problem that causes four and a half million deaths among children every year. The respiratory tract infections are more common among under five children and it continues to be one of the leading causes of child mortality and morbidity. Planning educational programmes for mothers of under five children regarding the prevention and treatment of respiratory tract infections will improve the health status of children. So a descriptive study was done, to assess the knowledge and effectiveness of structured teaching programme regarding the acute respiratory tract infection among mothers of under five children in a selected hospital at kollam district. Using purposive sampling technique 30 samples were selected and data were collected using demographic Performa and structured knowledge questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings revealed that in the pretest 20% had average knowledge and 80% had poor knowledge. After the structured teaching programme in the posttest 93.33% had good knowledge ,6.67% had average knowledge. The calculated paired “t” test value was 19 and the table ”t” value was 2.05. Hence the research hypothesis was accepted. There was no significant association between the pretest knowledge score and selected demographic variables (χ2 >0.05) Thus It was concluded that there was a significant improvement in posttest score when compared to pre-test score, so the structured teaching programme on acute respiratory tract infection was effective among mothers of under five children.