Publication:

A study to evaluate the effectiveness of first aid training on mothers among under 15 years children in a rural area of South India

Background Studies done in developed and developing countries have demonstrated deficiencies in knowledge of first aid among caregivers. With nearly 73% of the population of India is residing in rural areas. Thus this study was undertaken to document the effectiveness of first aid training on mothers in a rural area of South India.

Methods A cross sectional study conducted among 140 mothers of under 15 children in a village of South India.  For the purpose of assessing the overall knowledge of subjects regarding first aid, 13 questions which assessed different aspects of knowledge regarding first aid were considered. A post training evaluation of the participant women was done to assess a change in their knowledge in comparison to their pre training levels.

Results The mean baseline knowledge score was 2.34±1.98. Fifty six women participated in the training programme on first aid, and the mean knowledge score among these 56 women was 11.64±1.27 immediately following training. There was a significant improvement in the total knowledge scores in the post evaluation as compared to pre evaluation levels (p<0.001).

Conclusions Training on first aid can improve knowledge among women with children <15 years in a rural area of South India.