title: Level of mother's knowledge about neonatal danger signs and associated factors in North West of Ethiopia: a community based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neonatal danger has become a substantial problem in many developing countries like Ethiopia. More specifically, neonatal rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world. In this regard, health-seeking behavior of mothers for neonatal care highly relies on their knowledge about neonatal danger sign, and it has been hardly investigated. Therefore, this study was intended to determine the level of mother's knowledge about neonatal danger signs and to identify factors associated with good mother's knowledge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2014. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 603 mothers. A structured, pre-tested, and interview-administered questionnaire comprehending 13 neonatal danger signs was employed to collect the data. Data were entered into EPI-Info 3.5.2 and analyzed by SPSS version 16. Binary logistic regression model was used to identify associated factors. Odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to assess the strength and significant level of the association.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All mothers expected to participate in the study were interviewed. The results of the study showed that mothers who had knowledge of three or more neonatal danger signs (good knowledge) were found to be 18.2% (95% CI 15.1, 21.3%). The odds of having good knowledge was positively associated with mother's (AOR = 3.41, 95% CI 1.37, 8.52) and father's (AOR = 3.91, 95% CI 1.23, 12.36) higher educational achievement. Similarly, the odds of having good knowledge about neonatal danger signs was higher among Antenatal care (AOR = 2.28, 95% CI 1.05, 4.95) and Postnatal care attendant mothers (AOR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.22, 3.54). Furthermore, access to television was also associated with mothers' good knowledge about neonatal danger signs (AOR = 3.49, 95% CI 1.30, 9.39).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal knowledge about neonatal danger signs was low. Therefore, intervention modalities that focus on increasing level of parental education, access to antenatal and postnatal care and PNC service, and advocating the use of television was pinpointed.
authors.affiliation: Gondar Physiotherapy Clinic, Gondar, Ethiopia. sol.gondar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Solomon Gedlu
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Nigatu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. gabebaw2worku@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abebaw Gebeyehu
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Worku
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. Fekten@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Abel Fekadu
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dadi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population