Parental Health Literacy and Childhood Poisoning: Emerging Evidence from Iran
Authors
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Abbas Ziari
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran; Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6227-2501
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Mahdieh Shahidi Hakkak
Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2454-8438
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Maryam Naderi Eram
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2922-131X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22100/ijhs.v12i6.1469Keywords:
Health literacy, Pediatric poisoning, Prevention, Pediatric emergency, Health educationAbstract
Background: Pediatric poisoning is a common cause of visits to pediatric emergency departments, with the majority of cases occurring at home and being preventable. This study was conducted to investigate the association between parental health literacy and the incidence of poisoning in children under five years of age.
Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in 2021 on 270 children two to five years of age who presented to the pediatric emergency department of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Semnan (105 poisoned and 165 non-poisoned children). Data were collected using a demographic checklist and the standard Adult Health Literacy Questionnaire. Appropriate statistical tests and multivariate logistic regression analysis were employed for data analysis, with a significance level of 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval.
Results: The mean parental health literacy score was significantly lower in the poisoning group (64.40 ± 15.86) compared to the non-poisoning group (75.29 ± 14.86) (P < 0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression model, only parental health literacy score emerged as an independent predictor of pediatric poisoning (OR = 0.947, 95% CI: 0.916–0.978, P = 0.001). Other variables were not statistically significant after adjustment.
Conclusion: Parental health literacy plays a significant protective role against pediatric poisoning, independent of parental education level and other demographic characteristics of parents and children. Enhancing parental health literacy should be considered in pediatric poisoning prevention programs.
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