Assessment of Mother’s Information and Practice, and Factors Associated Infantile Colic in Erbil City

Abstract

Background and objectives: An excessive crying of unknown cause, the most common presentation to the primary health sector in early life, known as infantile colic, affects more than 20% of infants. Parents must deal with the terrible situation to resolve it spontaneously after the first three to four months of life. The study aimed to assess the mothers’ information and practices about infantile colic in Erbil city.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 60 mothers who attended treatment and routine follow-ups in the outpatients of primary health care centers in Erbil city. The data was collected from the 1st of June to the 30th of November 2022, through direct interviews (face-to-face) using a questioner checklist. The data were analyzed by using SPSS (24 version) to analyze the data inferentially (frequency and percentage) and to find out the association between dependent and independent variables, the Chi-square was used to identify the factors behind their practice and knowledge of the linear regression test was used.

Results: According to the study's findings, the majority (70%) of the sample were within average gestational ages (37 or more weeks). The highest percentages (70%) were within 2 months of age. There was a very highly significant association between the infant’s ages, period of crying, residency, and mother’s levels of information about the baby’s crying; also, there was a significant association between the mode of feeding and levels of the mother’s practice about infantile colic. Linear regression found that demographic variables explain a significant amount of the variance in the mothers` information. The analysis shows that infant age and period of crying were significantly associated with the mothers` information; it was found that demographic variables explain a significant amount of the variance in the mothers` practice......