Childhood Asthma, Wheezing Child, Parent Education, Asthma Education Tool, Asthma Awareness
BACKGROUND
Asthma is a common chronic disease in childhood. Globally, more than 339 million
people are estimated to have asthma. The prevalence of childhood asthma in India
is about 6 %. Even though childhood asthma is highly prevalent, the knowledge
level among parents / caregivers about the disease, its risk factors, prevention and
management is poor. Currently, in India there are no national or state level bodies
to provide relevant information about the disease. The rationale of this study is to
create a parent education tool that will provide the necessary details about the
disease and to check the effectiveness by assessing the improvement in
knowledge about childhood asthma among parents of wheezers after
implementation of this self-prepared educational tool through a structured
teaching programme.
METHODS
A pre-test post-test pre-experimental study was conducted among parents of
children admitted to paediatric ward and intensive care unit of a tertiary care
centre in North Kerala. A self-prepared questionnaire was used to assess the
knowledge of parents before intervention. Intervention was done using an
educational tool prepared by the researcher with the aid of power point
presentation and hands on training on technique of using metered dose inhaler.
Effectiveness of the tool was assessed after 10 days of intervention using the same
questionnaire. Statistical analysis of collected data was done using Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.
RESULTS
51 parents were included in the study. The scoring of questionnaire before and
after educational intervention was done as poor (< 10 score), average (11 - 20
score) and good (21 - 31 score). The mean score before intervention was 9.98
(SD = 3.14) and after intervention the score became 17.73 (SD = 2.562), and the
difference was statistically significant (P = 0.00). Mean score of the knowledge
regarding treatment and prevention of asthma improved to 10.18 (SD = 2.133)
from 4.29 (SD = 2.212).
CONCLUSIONS
A well-developed parent education tool is a requirement for minor adjustments
needed in the lifestyle of a child with asthma, which ensures proper prevention
and treatment.
