Abstract
Context: Teething, which is the eruption of primary teeth in infancy, had been associated with various types of symptoms by both the parents and some healthcare workers. The association of symptoms with teething had led to the use of medications to alleviate these symptoms, which in some cases had claimed the lives of some of the children. Aims: This study aims at assessing the belief and practice of nursing mothers concerning the use of pre-emptive medications for children in order to prevent perceived symptoms of teething. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study among nursing mothers who brought their children to immunization clinic. Subject and Methods: An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess the belief of nursing mothers on the use of pre-emptive medications against perceived symptoms of teething, the drugs used and the age of their children when they started using the drug(s). Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 14. Analysis included frequency, mean of quantitative values and cross tabulations. Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between those mothers, who believed that the medication should be used and those who did not believe in relationship with their age and their socio-economic status. Results: A total of 290 nursing mothers were assessed with 169 (58.3%) believing that drugs should be used as a pre-emptive measure for teething to be uneventful. Twenty-five (8.6%) of the mothers started the medications soon after birth, whereas 34.5% started it after the third month of life. Conclusions: There is the need for greater public enlightenment in order to reduce the use of medication(s) as a pre-emptive measure against “teething” as seen among the studied group.
Keywords
Children - medication - pre-emptive - teething
