Parental knowledge and practices on infant teething, Taif, Saudi Arabia

Background: Parents' false beliefs about signs and symptoms associated with teething have been documented in many studies around the world. This study was conducted to assess parental knowledge on infant teething process and to investigate parents' practices used to alleviate teething disturbances. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents of children of 6 months-5 years old in Taif, Saudi Arabia during April 2013. Convenience method of sampling was adopted and the data was collected by mean of a structured-questionnaire. Data was processed by SPPS. Logistic regression analysis was performed. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Overall, of 493 participants were included in the final analysis with mean age 35 years. Females constituted more than two-third. All the parents attributed one or more of the listed signs and symptoms to teething process. Desire to bite, fever, gum irritation, increased salivation and diarrhea were the most reported signs and symptoms of teething by 459 (93.1 %), 429 (87 %), 415 (84.2 %), 414 (84 %) and 409 (83 %) of the parents respectively. The only predictor of ascribing fever as a sign of infant teething was female gender (P = 0.001). However, female gender (P < 0.001), residence (P = 0.039) and educational level (P = 0.006) were found to be significantly associated with ascribing diarrhea as one of the teething symptoms. Only 91 (18.5 %) of the parents responded correctly to all questions designed to assess their knowledge on teething process. Conclusions: Wide gaps in parents' knowledge and practices related infant teething was identified. Educational interventions are needed to upgrade parents' knowledge and improve their practices regarding infant teething process.