ESTRATEGIA EDUCATIVA PARA LE PREVENCIÓN DE LAS INFECCIONES RESPIRATORIAS EN NIÑOS MENORES DE CINCO AÑOS

Abstract

Introduction: health promotion is the most effective method of disease prevention. This type of activity ensures that professionals seek various ways of transmitting crucial information to parents and caregivers by disseminating key information for the prevention of pathologies. Objective: to contribute to the prevention of acute respiratory infections in children under five years of age through an educational intervention. Methods: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, action-participation (educational intervention) before-after study was carried out. The universe and the sample coincided; it was constituted by the parents and/or guardians of the 30 children attending the “Estrellitas del Futuro” Child Development Center of the San Buenaventura parish, Cotopaxi province, Ecuador. A questionnaire on knowledge and practices was applied before and after the intervention. Results: before the educational intervention, the prevalent level of knowledge was poor (96, 6 %) regardless of the level of schooling; after the intervention it was good (53, 3 %) and regular (36,6 %). Eighty-seven percent of the sample after the intervention assumed good practices against respiratory infections. The impact of the educational intervention was positive, with a significance level of less than p'0,005. Conclusions: the educational intervention on the prevention of respiratory infections in children under five years of age was effective, which demonstrates the importance of educating the population in order to raise their perception of risk and provoke the adoption of good health practices.