Hakizuwera Placide, Gbadamosi Mojeed
Public Health, Mount Kenya University, Kigali, Rwanda.
Primary Healthcare, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Rwanda J Med Health Sci. 2025 Mar 31;8(1):100-110. doi: 10.4314/rjmhs.v8i1.8. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Growth-related problems and malnutrition are common in children with disabilities. Malnutrition increases childhood morbidity and mortality, impairs intellectual development, and raises the risk of developing diseases later in life. However, information is limited for children with disabilities.
To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards malnutrition among parents of under-five children with disabilities in HVP Gatagara Hospital.
Using a non-probability census sampling, 130 parents of disabled children under five years of age participated in the cross-sectional study. Information was gathered using a structured questionnaire, and it was analysed descriptively and by binomial logistic regression.
According to the results, 61.54% of parents had moderate knowledge, while 7.69% and 69.2% had poor knowledge and positive attitude, respectively. In addition, 16.9% had insufficient practice, but most parents (70.3%) had moderate practice. Those with high knowledge (>70%) had 3.6-fold higher odds of good practices [OR=3.61; 95% CI=1.22 - 5.99; p=0.003]. Furthermore, being female was associated with increased odds of having adequate nutritional practice [OR=1.77; 95% CI=2.22 -3.24; p=0.019].
High knowledge of malnutrition led to adequate nutritional practice. Therefore, to improve best practices regarding malnutrition, it is necessary to focus on health education interventions that will raise parents' knowledge and positive attitudes about the condition of their children with disabilities.
生长发育相关问题和营养不良在残疾儿童中很常见。营养不良会增加儿童期发病率和死亡率，损害智力发育，并增加日后患疾病的风险。然而，针对残疾儿童的相关信息有限。
评估加塔加拉医院（HVP Gatagara Hospital）五岁以下残疾儿童家长对营养不良的认知、态度和做法。
采用非概率普查抽样，130名五岁以下残疾儿童的家长参与了这项横断面研究。通过结构化问卷收集信息，并进行描述性分析和二项逻辑回归分析。
结果显示，61.54%的家长有中等程度的认知，而分别有7.69%和69.2%的家长认知较差和态度积极。此外，16.9%的家长做法不足，但大多数家长（70.3%）做法中等。认知水平高（>70%）的家长有良好做法的几率高3.6倍[比值比（OR）=3.61；95%置信区间（CI）=1.22 - 5.99；p=0.003]。此外，女性家长有足够营养做法的几率增加[OR=1.77；95% CI=2.22 - 3.24；p=0.019]。
对营养不良的高认知导致了充足的营养做法。因此，为改善关于营养不良的最佳做法，有必要关注健康教育干预措施，以提高家长对其残疾子女状况的认知和积极态度。
