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Effect of Home Poisoning Prevention Education on Poisoning Prevention Practices among Parents of Young Children in Nigeria

Abstract

Poisoning is an important public health and child injury concern because young children may be accidentally exposed to medicines, household cleaning products, pesticides, kerosene, fuels, cosmetics, chemicals, and other potentially toxic substances within and around the home. Young children are particularly vulnerable because of their natural curiosity, exploratory behaviour, and tendency to place objects and substances in their mouths. In Nigeria, unsafe storage of medicines and household chemicals, use of inappropriate containers, inadequate product labelling, lack of child-resistant storage, and limited parental awareness may increase the risk of preventable childhood poisoning. Home poisoning prevention education provides an opportunity to improve parents' knowledge of common poisoning hazards and promote appropriate household practices for preventing accidental exposure. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of home poisoning prevention education on poisoning prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how parents' perceptions of children's susceptibility to poisoning, perceived severity of poisoning, perceived benefits of preventive practices, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence household poisoning prevention behaviours. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, behavioural modelling, self-efficacy, reinforcement, and environmental influences in developing and maintaining safe household practices. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of parents, children, households, communities, healthcare services, product manufacturers, regulatory institutions, and the broader environment on poisoning prevention. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how home poisoning prevention education may influence poisoning prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise parents or primary caregivers of children aged 0–5 years residing in selected urban, semi-urban, and rural communities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, households, and eligible parents or caregivers. Home poisoning prevention education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to poisoning prevention education sessions, frequency and duration of education, knowledge of common household poisons, awareness of medication-related poisoning, knowledge of safe chemical storage, awareness of pesticide and insecticide hazards, knowledge of kerosene and fuel safety, awareness of poisoning risks associated with cosmetics and household products, understanding of appropriate product labelling, knowledge of child-resistant storage, awareness of poisoning symptoms, and knowledge of appropriate first-response measures and the importance of seeking medical care. Poisoning prevention practices will be assessed using indicators such as storing medicines out of children's reach, keeping household chemicals in appropriate containers, avoiding storage of chemicals in food or drink containers, securely storing pesticides and insecticides, safely storing kerosene and other fuels, keeping cosmetics and potentially toxic products away from children, maintaining original labels where appropriate, avoiding unnecessary transfer of chemicals between containers, disposing of unwanted medicines and chemicals safely, supervising young children around potentially hazardous substances, and seeking appropriate medical assistance promptly when poisoning is suspected. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, poisoning prevention knowledge assessment instruments, household observation checklists, safety-practice assessment tools, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize parents' demographic characteristics, household characteristics, common poisoning hazards, children's age groups, exposure to education, and poisoning prevention practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of home poisoning prevention education on poisoning prevention practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, poisoning prevention practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that home poisoning prevention education has a significant positive effect on poisoning prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. Parents exposed to structured and practical poisoning prevention education are expected to demonstrate safer household practices than parents without comparable exposure. Education may improve parents' ability to recognize common poisoning hazards, store medicines and chemicals safely, maintain appropriate product labels, prevent children from accessing pesticides and fuels, and respond appropriately when poisoning is suspected. Practical demonstrations, household safety assessments, and visual educational materials may further strengthen parents' confidence and ability to implement preventive measures. However, poverty, inadequate storage facilities, overcrowded housing, unsafe packaging, limited access to child-resistant containers, informal sale of unlabelled chemicals, low literacy, and limited access to poison information and emergency services may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, culturally appropriate, and continuous home poisoning prevention education, supported by safer product packaging, appropriate storage facilities, effective regulation, and accessible healthcare services, to contribute significantly to improved poisoning prevention practices among parents of young children in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on childhood poisoning prevention, household injury prevention, parental health education, child health, environmental health, medication safety, chemical safety, health promotion, injury epidemiology, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state ministries of health, primary healthcare centres, hospitals, poison information and emergency services, environmental health officers, paediatric healthcare providers, pharmacists, community health workers, public health practitioners, regulatory agencies, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for reducing childhood poisoning. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening parental poisoning prevention education, improving household safety assessments, promoting safe storage of medicines and chemicals, increasing awareness of poisoning symptoms and appropriate emergency responses, strengthening product labelling and packaging standards, improving access to poison information services, and developing sustainable childhood poisoning prevention programmes across Nigeria.

Keywords: Home poisoning prevention education, poisoning prevention practices, parents, young children, childhood poisoning, household safety, medication safety, chemical safety, injury prevention, Nigeria, public health.