Knowledge and Attitude of Rheumatic Heart Disease among Nursing Mothers in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a chronic condition caused by an attack of acute rheumatic fever. It has the potential to worsen, from clinically silent damage to very complicated damage to the heart valve. According to the WHO, in 2020, it was estimated to affect over 288,348 lives annually, with the bulk of cases being found in developing countries. As mothers play a major role in the care and nurture of their children, this study is aimed at assessing their level of knowledge and their attitude towards rheumatic heart disease. Method: The study was cross-sectional in nature and was conducted at the maternal and child units of a primary health care center. The questionnaires were independently filled out by the respondents, and the data was carefully coded into the SPSS version 25 software. Results: In this study, a total of 150 nursing mothers were reached. In terms of age distribution, the age group 26–30 years old (38%) made up most of the population, and 92% of the total population were married. In terms of education, 50.7% had completed their secondary school education. Overall, the assessment of the level of knowledge of the participants was 86%, 9.3%, and 4.7%, categorized as poor, fair, and good, respectively. Conclusion: More educational intervention needs to be carried out, especially among mothers attending primary health care centers in the nation, in order to increase their knowledge and improve their attitude towards the disease, which we found to be low.

Keywords

• rheumatic heart disease
• nursing mothers
• knowledge
• attitude
• nigeria