Abstract

Background: Accidents are the first cause of death in children under 5- year, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants of prevention behavior of domestic accidents in mothers of children fewer than 5 years old based on protection motivation theory (PMT). Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 190 mothers were randomly selected. The data collection tool was researcher made questionnaire about prevention behaviors of home accidents in children less than five years based on the structures of protection motivation theory.then collected data entered in the software SPSS-22 and were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical tests. Results: Mean of perceived response efficacy was in good level and mean of other structures of PMT were in moderate level. There was a significant correlations between the scores of perceived vulnerability (r=.39, P < 0.05) and perceived severity, between scores of perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy (r=.47, P < 0.05). In mothers with higher education, score of perceived response efficacy was higher (P < 0.05). Mean of scores of perceived response efficacy and self- efficacy were higher in mothers who take care of their child themselves more than mothers who other people took care of their child (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Mean score of perceived response was in good level and also mean scores of others structures were in moderate level .It seems that PMT can be used as a conceptual frame work for designing educational programs aimed to improve of prevention behaviors of home accidents among mothers with children less than 5 year.