Parental Knowledge and Practices on Skin Care of Children with Atopic Dermatitis and Associated Factors in Saint Paul’shospital Millenniummedical College, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin condition common in children, with effective management heavily dependent on parental involvement. Parental knowledge and practices play a crucial role in the successful control of AD, yet there is a lack of studies exploring these factors, particularly in Ethiopia. Understanding these aspects is vital for developing strategies to improve AD management in children. Objective: The study aim was to assess parents’ knowledge and practices towards skin care of children with atopic dermatitis and associated factors in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 2024. Methodology: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2024 to September 2024 at dermatology OPD of the St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. 238 parents of children with AD who had follow up were included on the study with kth interval with systematic random sampling to complete the questionnaire. Bloom’s cut off point was used to catecorize the level of knowledge and practice. Good knowledge and practice are consider if the score was more than 60%. Data were entered into Epi Data 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Associations were conducted with binary logistics regression and reported using Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: The proportion of good parental knowledge and practice on skin care for children with atopic dermatitis was found to be 57.14% (95% CI: 50.58-63.51%) and 35.29% (95% CI: 29.23-41.73%) respectively. The mean parental knowledge on skin care for children with atopic dermatitis was 58.3% (SD 3.5 ± 1.2 ) and the mean parental practice was 54% (2.7 ± 0.9). Those aged 31-50 years and over 50 have 0.269 and 0.365 times lower odds of having good knowledge (AOR = 0.269, 95% CI: 0.137–0.529) and (AOR = 0.365, 95% CI: 0.145–0.917) respectively. Higher education levels (elementary: AOR = 6.712, 95% CI: 1.60–28.06; secondary: AOR = 5.521, 95% CI: 1.562–19.513; college or above: AOR = 9.384, 95% CI: 2.715–32.429), a family history of AD (AOR = 2.641, 95% CI: 1.349–5.169), and four or more clinic visits (AOR = 2.525, 95% CI: 1.258–5.066). Good practices were linked to college education (AOR = 2.845, 95% CI: 1.005–8.05), while poorer practices were associated with unappealing moisturizer formulation (AOR = 0.457, 95% CI: 0.234–0.892), medication cost (AOR = 0.480, 95% CI: 0.265–0.868), and use of alternative natural methods and home remedies (AOR = 0.442, 95% CI: 0.245–0.796). Conclusion and recommendations: The study indicates poor level of parental knowledge and practices regarding skin care for children with atopic dermatitis (AD). These findings underscore the need for 7 targeted interventions addressing educational and socio-economic factors to improve AD management among parents. Keywords; atopic dermatitis; knowledge; practice; moisturizers; emollients; skin care.