BACKGROUND: Parental knowledge of their child's heart disease, while often overlooked, contributes to compliance and reduces anxiety. Prior studies have shown that 36% of parental diagnostic descriptions are incorrect. OBJECTIVES: To assess parental knowledge and attitudes among outpatients at a hospital pediatric cardiology clinic. METHODS: Seventy-four families completed a questionnaire in which they described their child's condition and stated their attitude towards dental hygiene and future prenatal diagnosis. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of the parents failed to describe their child's malformation correctly. We found that parental understanding of the heart defect correlated with parental education. Future prenatal diagnosis was considered by 88% of families, and termination of pregnancy by 40%. Only 40% of children were aware of their heart problem. Children of parents who were ignorant about the condition tended to lack knowledge themselves. An additional finding was that 68% of Jewish families turn to non-medical personnel for medical advice--an interesting finding not hitherto addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Ignorance of their child's problem did not correlate with its severity or complexity but rather with parental background: the less educated the parent, the more likely was the problem perceived incorrectly.
BACKGROUND: Parental knowledge of their child's heart disease, while often overlooked, contributes to compliance and reduces anxiety. Prior studies have shown that 36% of parental diagnostic descriptions are incorrect. OBJECTIVES: To assess parental knowledge and attitudes among outpatients at a hospital pediatric cardiology clinic. METHODS: Seventy-four families completed a questionnaire in which they described their child's condition and stated their attitude towards dental hygiene and future prenatal diagnosis. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of the parents failed to describe their child's malformation correctly. We found that parental understanding of the heart defect correlated with parental education. Future prenatal diagnosis was considered by 88% of families, and termination of pregnancy by 40%. Only 40% of children were aware of their heart problem. Children of parents who were ignorant about the condition tended to lack knowledge themselves. An additional finding was that 68% of Jewish families turn to non-medical personnel for medical advice--an interesting finding not hitherto addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Ignorance of their child's problem did not correlate with its severity or complexity but rather with parental background: the less educated the parent, the more likely was the problem perceived incorrectly.
Authors: Ismee A Williams; Roxana Shaw; Charles S Kleinman; Welton M Gersony; Ashwin Prakash; Stephanie M Levasseur; Julie S Glickstein Journal: Pediatr Cardiol Date: 2008-07-01 Impact factor: 1.655
Authors: Maciej Słodki; Katarzyna Zych-Krekora; Roland Axt-Fliedner; Ana Bianchi; Edward Araujo Junior; Isaac Blickstein; Sefa Kelekci; Lami Yeo; Jay D Pruetz; Giuseppe Rizzo; Neil Seligman; Mark Sklansky; Luc de Catte; Stuart Weiner; Frank Chervenak; Jader Cruz; Andrii Kurkevych; Michał Krekora; Maria Respondek-Liberska Journal: J Ultrason Date: 2016-03-29