| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: Also known as Infant oral mutilation (IOM), false teeth removal is a
traditional method of extracting an infants un-erupted teeth as a cure for medical symptoms
in infants that include high fevers, diarrhea and vomiting. It is practiced in several Sub-
Saharan African countries, including Uganda.
Objectives: The study particularly sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated
with false teeth removal( Infant Oral Mutilation) among children under five years in
Bungatira Sub county, Gulu District.
Method: This cross sectional study was conducted in Bungatira Sub-county in Gulu district,
involving 150 participants with children less than five years that voluntarily accepted and
signed a consent form. The respondents were selected using simple random sampling from
accessible population; and data analyzed using descriptive statistics and bi-variate method as
well as SPSS and Microsoft Excel presented in figures and tables.
Result: The prevalence of infant oral mutilation was high at 78%, and the socio-demographic
factors such as the age and sex of the child, and care-takers‟ socio-demographic factors like
gender and level of education had no significant association with the prevalence of false
teeth removal among the children below five years. However, other socio-demographic
factors of the care-takers such as age, marital status, employment status/occupation, religion
and relationship to the child had a significant influence on the prevalence of false teeth
removal of the children. It was observed that false teeth removal was higher among the care-
takers with a lower level of education, lower socio economic/employment status and those
with a biological parent relationship to the child than those with a higher level of education,
higher socio-economic/employment status and those who were guardians and not biological
parents to the children. In regards to knowledge factors, the majority of people had ever heard
about false teeth, and their main source of information was their parents, with
ancestral/ancestral roots as the main reason for infant oral mutilation.
Conclusion/recommendations: The high prevalence of infant oral mutilation has been
greatly influenced by the gap in the caregivers‟ knowledge factors which included their
awareness, reasons for infant oral mutilation and major sources of information about this
traditional practice. Therefore, this study recommends that there is need to revive community
sensitization. However, these program mes of community health workers will need to include
appropriate cultural educational materials targeting parents and local healers/traditional birth
attendants since these play a key role in fueling the removal of children's false teeth.
Keywords: Infant Oral Mutilation; Children under five; Caretakers; Uganda | en_US |
