The Sierra Leonean rural illiterate mothers' perceptions of the factors related to Kwashiorkor

Twenty Sierra Leonean rural illiterate mothers were querried about their perceptions of the factors related to Kwashiorkor. Demographic data was hand tabulated to determine the frequency of parents' occupations, pregnancies, live and stillbirths, living and dead children, and causes of children's deaths. Chi-square analyses were done to assess the distribution of responses to questions about 19 beliefs which the researcher thought were related to Kwashiorkor. Student t-test was used to determine the differences in the total number and outcome of pregnancies between women who agreed and disagreed about the role of four of the factors which tended to show or showed significance with chi-square analyses.The families were subsistence farmers. In addition, 65 percent or the husbands had other jobs. Combined, the 20 women had 191 pregnancies, 166 live births, (87 percent of pregnancies), 25 (13 percent) stillbirths, 82 living children (43 percent of pregnancies and 49 percent of live births). The women lost through death 84 (50.6 percent) of the 166 live born children.The average woman experienced 9.6 pregnancies, resulting in 8.3 live births, and 1.3 stillbirths, had an average of 4.1 living children and had lost an average of 4.2 live born children. The data indicated that the major problem with infant/child mortality occurred after birth. Protein-Energy Malnutrition accounted for 38.1 percent of the children's deaths.Of the 19 factors about which women were querried in relation to role in Kwashiorkor, to only 4, namely “Witchcraft,” “Religious beliefs,” “Grandmother's advice,” and “Mother-in-law's advice” did less than half of the women agree. The majority of women agreed that 15 of the factors were associated with Kwashiorkor.That indicated the women had supportable understanding of factors truly related to Kwashiorkor.Three constructs, beliefs about “Witchcraft,” “Introduction of other foods,” and “Immunizations,” differentiated incidence and outcome of pregnancy among women. However, belief about the importance of “Immunizations” differentiated infant/child mortality and will be most useful in future research to analyze differences and to identify groups at greatest risk of child mortality.Thesis (M.S.