title: Left-hand dominance in children: Prevalence and maternal stereotypes in a South-east Nigerian city.
abstract: The objectives of the study are to estimate the prevalence of left-hand dominance among children of selected mothers in an urban city and to determine the mothers' stereotypes about left-handedness. A cross-sectional study of mothers (N = 222) selected by systematic random sampling was done. The mothers were interviewed with structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed with appropriate descriptive statistics on SPSS. The estimated prevalence of left-hand dominance in their children was 7.52%. A left-handed mother was more likely to have a left-handed child. A substantial number of the mothers held negative stereotypes about left-hand dominance and showed a good knowledge about other types of handedness with a significant difference in the responses between right-handers and left-handers. The prevalence of left-hand dominance in their children supports previous reports which show that left-handedness usually occurs in less than 10% of the population. The mothers' negative stereotypes signify the likelihood of stigmatizing the children with this hand dominance.
authors: a Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine , University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital , Nsukka , Enugu , Nigeria.
authors: Samuel N
authors: SN
authors: Uwaezuoke
authors: Christopher B
authors: CB
authors: Eke
authors: Emmanuel A
authors: EA
authors: Nwobi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009549:Nigeria; D015995:Prevalence; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior
keywords: Children; Left-hand dominance; Negative stereotypes; Prevalence