Factors Associated with Maternal Behavior in Prevention of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Young Children, Vietnam

Abstract

Objective: To examine Vietnamese mothers’ preventive behavior on the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) for their children and determine the association between such preventive behavior and the mothers’ knowledge about HFMD, self-efficacy, and social support. Method: A cluster random sampling was used to recruit the sample of 97 mothers with young children receiving services at four child care centers in Hai Duong City, Vietnam. Data were collected from August to September 2015. Self-report questionnaires consisted of 1-demographic record, 2-the maternal behavior in prevention of HFMD, 3-the knowledge about HFMD, 4-the perceived self-efficacy and 5-the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of questionnaires 2 – 5 were 0.81, 0.81, 0.85 and 0.86, respectively. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. Results: Vietnamese mothers had moderate mean score of HFMD preventive behaviors for their children (73.81  8.70). This maternal preventive behavior was positively correlated with knowledge about HFMD, perceived self-efficacy, and social support (r = 0.54, P < 0.01, r = 0.44, P < 0.01 and r = 0.57, P < 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: Vietnamese mothers of young children had moderate score of preventive behaviors on HFMD. The preventive behavior was positively associated with knowledge, self-efficacy, and social support. Nurses could provide knowledge, and promote maternal self-efficacy and social support.Keywords: hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD),knowledge, self-efficacy, maternal behaviors, prevention, Vietnam