Publication:

A pre-experimental study to assess the effectiveness of planned teaching program on early childhood caries in terms of knowledge, attitude and practice among mothers of children between 1 to 6 years of age group admitted in paediatric unit in selected hospital of Delhi

Background Children under the age of six have early childhood caries (ECC) in their teeth. In 2017, the Global Burden of Disease Study found that over 530 million children worldwide suffer from primary tooth caries. The condition impacts overall health and quality of life throughout the life course and affects both primary and permanent teeth (World Health Organization, 2020). Research on this topic is scarce, this study examines the effectiveness of planned teaching program on early childhood caries in terms of knowledge, attitude and practice among mothers of children between 1 to 6 years of age.

Methods Quantitative Research Approach and one group pre-test and post-test research design was adopted. 30 mothers of children between 1 to 6 years of age in selected hospital were selected using purposive sampling technique.

Result The pre-test mean knowledge score was 6.8214 and the post-test knowledge score was 12.3667 with the standard deviation 2.0398 and 2.3265 respectively. The pre-test mean attitude score was 10.3666 and the post-test attitude score was 17.9 with the standard deviation 4.9022 and 1.4910 respectively. The pre-test means practice score o was 3.7 and the post-test practice score was 7.6333 with the standard deviation 1.5947 and 1.4940 respectively.  The post-test knowledge score, attitude score and practice score of the mothers were found significantly higher than the mean pre-test scores.

Conclusion Planned teaching program was found to be an effective in enhancing the knowledge, attitude and practice.