An important risk in pediatric emergencies: Mothers' reading habits of hazard symbols on household chemicals and their health literacy levels.

BACKGROUND: Primary caregivers' awareness of chemical hazard symbols is essential for preventing children's exposure to hazardous household chemicals. AIM: This study investigated mothers' reading habits and knowledge of hazard symbols on household chemicals and their health literacy. METHOD: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 248 mothers of children aged 0-6 years. The study's data were collected between February and June 2023 using the Introductory Information Form, the Chemical Hazard Symbols Information Questionnaire, and the Health Literacy Scale-Short Form. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows and included number and percentage distributions, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. FINDINGS: It was found that 74.2% of participants were interested in chemical product labels and 21.4% of them always read the information on the label. The mean score of the participants' knowledge of chemical label symbols was 6.34 ± 1.93, and their mean score health literacy was 31.39 ± 8.61. A weak positive correlation was found between the participants' chemical hazard symbols knowledge scores and their health literacy scale scores (r = 0.153, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: The mothers' chemical label symbol knowledge scores were found to be above the midpoint, whereas their chemical label reading habits were limited. The mothers' health literacy scores were also above the midpoint. Although statistically significant, the association between mothers' health literacy and knowledge of chemical hazard symbols was weak. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Integrating education on chemical hazard symbols into routine parent education by pediatric nurses may improve parental awareness and help prevent childhood poisoning.