Child drowning health literacy and child drowning prevention behavioral of households in Khao Samsib Sub-district, Khao Chakan District, Sa Kaeo Province

Abstract

 Child drowning is the leading cause of death in children under 15 years old. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the health literacy related to drowning prevention in children and its associated with drowning prevention behaviors among caregivers of Khao Samsib Subdistrict, Khao Chakan District, Sa Kaeo Province. A total of 291 households were randomly recruited into the study. Household representatives were interviewed using structured questionnaire. The content validity index (CVI) values for individual items (I-CVI) and the scale (S-CVI) ranged from 0.83 to 0.97. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. The reliability coefficient of knowledge and skills in preventing drowning in children were 0.72 and 0.74, health literacy in preventing drowning in children was 0.82, and household behaviors in preventing drowning in children was 0.74. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. The study found that 52.9% of household representatives were at a sufficient level of knowledge about drowning prevention. About half were at a sufficient level of decision-making skills, implementation, and information access (53.6%, 52.6%, and 51.9%, respectively). However, understanding and inquiry skills were at an insufficient level (52.9% and 50.2% respectively). Drowning preventive behaviors, 80.5% was at a good level and 83.8% was at a low level of knowledge on drowning prevention. Skills related to drowning prevention, 85.1% was at good level. Educational status, and knowledge of drowning prevention were significantly associated with drowning preventive behaviors (p-value<0.05). To prevent drowning and deaths from drowning in children, activities should be organized to promote health literacy and enhance knowledge of proper resuscitation techniques among community people.