Attitude of women about prevention of home injuries in children under 5 years using Protection Motivation Theory

Background: Mothers attitude towards the possibility of an accident and its related preventive measures can affect children s injuries. Psychological theories and constructs provide an opportunity to explain how people s attitudes affect their decision making in adoption of a health behavior. This study examined attitude of women from Jiroft city about prevention of home injuries in children under 5 years through Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) in 2015.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 204 mothers with children less than 5 years were selected from those who referred to health centers of Jiroft in 2015. In this regard, random cluster sampling method was applied. A self-administered questionnaire based on PMT was used to collect information. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistical methods to investigate distribution of responses to the questions. Later, one-way ANOVA and independent t-test were applied to observe the relationship between demographic variables and protection motivation.Results: The age range of mothers was 16 - 49 years. History of domestic injuries was reported in 22.5% of participants. It was more than six months that 70.6% of mothers were implementing safety measures at home. In threat assessment processes, mothers most important attitudes were related to fear of home injuries (46.6%), however, in coping assessment processes, it was related to perceived self-efficacy (51.9%).Conclusion: The results showed that increase of fear and perceived self-efficacy in mothers has a greater role in their motivation to prevent home injuries. This can be considered as an appropriate strategy in planning health promotion interventions. By increasing the family s awareness and observing the protection notes by them, the rate of children s burns in homes is reduced to a large extent, so the best way to prevent death from burns is to prevent it.