Browsing by Author "Makawita, M.U.M."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Knowledge and practices regarding selected aspects of sexual abuse among mothers of adolescent children in the Medical Officer of Health area, Udubaddawa
    (College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, 2009) Makawita, M.U.M.; Jayawardana, P.
    INTRODUCTION: Emergence of child sexual abuse of adolescents is one of the major issues encountered globally. Inadequacy of preventive measures undertaken by mothers as a result of poor knowledge would make their children vulnerable to this horrendous experience which may have disastrous consequences on their physical, psychological and social well being. OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge and practices related to selected aspects of sexual abuse among mothers of adolescent children in the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area, Udubaddawa. METHODS: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in all 13 Public Health Midwife areas in the MOH area, Udubaddawa. Seven hundred and fifteen mothers, 55 from each PHM area, having an adolescent child/children were selected through cluster sampling. Knowledge and practices were assessed using a self administered questionnaire. A score of ^50% was selected to define "good" knowledge and practices. Chi squared test was applied to determine factors associated with "good" knowledge and practices. RESULTS: The proportions of mothers with good overall knowledge and practices were 52.3% (n=374) and 39.2% (n=280) respectively. The variables that were significantly associated with good over all knowledge were educational level of >GCE O/L (60%; n=206) in comparison to Rs. 15,000 (63%; n=64) in comparison to