Abstract
Objective: To investigate the environmental and sociodemographic factors related to maternal knowledge about child development in the rural context. Methods: Cross-sectional study involving mothers of children between 0 and 3 years old, in Bragança, Pará state. Environmental and sociodemographic characterization sheet and the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) were used as an interview. Generalized linear models were used for statistical analysis; for multiple comparisons, the Sidak test, and the characteristics of the sample were compared through Chi-square. The significance level was set at 0.01%. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Results: For the 25 mothers in the study, basic sanitation was the only predictor of accuracy and totality in the KIDI. Percentage scores and standard deviation had correct answers on the inventory, with 0.90 (± 0.07) in the attempt, 0.57 (± 0.07) in accuracy, and 0.51 (± 0.07) in the total score. Also, 0.34 (± 0.08) of mothers underestimated the development and 0.14 (± 0.06) overestimated it. Conclusion: Mothers’ knowledge about child development in rural areas is related to sociodemographic factors. Basic sanitation was the only environmental predictor variable of accuracy and total correctness of the instrument, indicating to predict greater maternal knowledge when present.