Volume 27, Issue 134, April 2023

Assessment of Awareness and Knowledge of Parents about Child Developmental Milestones in Al-Kharj City, Saudi Arabia

Abbas Elbakry A Elsayed^1,2, Ismail Abdelfattah M Hassan³, Mohammed Ibrahim Hajelbashir^1,4, Abdulrahman Mousa Almalki⁵, Faisal SF Alharbi⁵, Rasheed A Alhajri⁵, Mohammed NM Al-Harbi⁵, Arif Mohammed M Alanazi⁵, Abdulaziz Munahi Alanazi⁵, Abdullah NM Al-Harbi⁵, Ali Hassan A Ali^6,7♦

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assuit, Egypt
³Pediatric and Neonatology Specialist, New Medical Center, Royal Hospital, Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi 35233, United Arab Emirates
⁴Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Kassala University, Kassala 31111, Sudan
⁵College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, KSA
⁶Anatomy Department, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, KSA
⁷Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

^♦Corresponding author
Anatomy Department, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, KSA and Anatomy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Background: Child development is the process by which children's skill development is acquired over predictable times recognized as developmental milestones. A set of practical abilities or tasks that most children can execute by a certain age constitute a developmental milestone. Aims: To assess the parents' level of awareness regarding a child's developmental milestone, as well as the correlation between some demographic factors and the parents' knowledge about the child’s development. Methodology: This study is based on cross-sectional study design. A sample of 406 parents was taken by convenient sampling technique among the community of Al-Kharj City, Saudi Arabia from October 2022. To measure parents' understanding of the developmental milestones of their children, a structured questionnaire was employed. Results: Saudi parents have adequate knowledge about child development in the areas of physical and language development as overall percentages of correct answers regarding language and physical development were 68% and 60%, respectively, while they have inadequate knowledge about cognitive and social development, with the overall percentages of correct answers being 45% and 49%, respectively. Conclusion: Cognitive, emotional and social growths are less well-known than language and physical development. The results of child development may be improved by strategies to raise awareness of developmental milestones and information on how to encourage optimal growth.

Keywords: Developmental milestone, knowledge, awareness, Saudi parents

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e189ms2994

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i134/e189ms2994

Published: 15 April 2023