Abstract
Airway obstruction by peanuts or other dry legumes occurs most commonly in preschool children (infants to age six). Education of caretakers is essential, and for this purpose, current awareness of the danger of foreign body airway obstruction was appraised. We conducted a questionnaire survey comprising seven items related to foreign body airway obstruction on 46 caretakers attending a lecture on the same topic at a single kindergarten in June 2011, and subsequently evaluated the responses. A total of 65.9% of the respondents indicated that they were aware of the term “foreign body airway obstruction,” and 65.2% indicated that they knew dry legumes could cause dangerous airway obstruction. Moreover, 50% and 75% of those who knew of the danger and those who did not indicated that they had given dry legumes to preschool children; however, upon completion of the lecture, nearly all of the caretakers indicated that they would no longer do so. Adequate education of caretakers in this regard may help to prevent the occurrence of foreign body airway obstruction in preschool children. A steadfast, multifaceted effort to draw the attention of caretakers to this danger should be regarded as a basic duty of the local otorhinolaryngologist.
