Jaundice and Treatment Options: Knowledge, Views and Current Practices among Caregivers of Children Attending a Teaching Hospital in Owerri, Nigeria

Introduction: Neonatal jaundice (neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia), characterized by yellowish discoloration of the skin and sclera of newborn infants is caused by high serum bilirubin levels. Amongst infants, it is an important cause of preventable brain injury, mental handicap, physical disabilities and death; arising from poor understanding that leads to dangerous delays in seeking care and imitating appropriate management.

Objective: To evaluate the perception, knowledge, practices and attitudes of mothers related to neonatal jaundice (NNJ).

Methods: Convenience sampling technique was used to obtain data from consecutive parents who attended the well child/immunization clinic of the Federal Teaching Hospital Owerri, Nigeria, from January 2023 to April 2023. A structured questionnaire was utilized to assess knowledge, attitude and treatment related to neonatal jaundice.

Results: The valid response rate was 80%.Of the participating parents, 92.8% had knowledge about neonatal jaundice and this was associated with class I socioeconomic class (OR 11.88 95% CI:1.85to76.18) while 54.4% of the respondents acknowledged jaundice as an emergency.Knowledge of jaundice as an emergency was associated with a high education level (i.e. university degree or its equivalent; OR=8.33, 95% CI: 2.70 to 25.00, p=0.001), prior education on neonatal jaundice (OR=3.62, 95% CI: 1.64 to 7.99, p=0.001) and male babies (OR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.62, p=0.013). Although 62.3% of the participants recognized blood group/rhesus incompatibility as a cause of neonatal jaundice, 22.5% of them did not know neonatal jaundice was dangerous. Of the 243 whose wards had had jaundice, 78.6% recognized yellow eyes as a sign of jaundice, with 38.8% of them being managed in places other than a health facility. Amongst the participants, 71(45.1%) recognized the two effective treatment methods for neonatal jaundice. Thirteen (4.1%) of the participants knew that awareness could be created through the social media. Modest negative correlations between the knowledge of jaundice, its awareness as an emergency and the eventual outcome were observed (Kendall’s tau-b (tb) = -0.187, p =.033 and tb= -0.254, p <.001, respectively).

Conclusion: Most of the subjects in this study had knowledge about jaundice and about half recognized it as an emergency. A large proportion of them were unaware of the effective treatment methods. Therefore, there is a critical need for better awareness through targeted public enlightenment and educational programs.