Assessment of Knowledge and Reported Practice of Mothers Having Children with Cancer and Undergoing Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a life threatening illness that involves emotional distress, fear of the unknown and changes in life priorities for the child and family. It is at a significant risk of depression for mothers because of the frequent stressful diagnostic tests, treatments and side effects of treatments.Aim: Assessof knowledge and reported practice of mothers having children with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.Design: Adescriptive research design was used in the study. Data collection: a purposive sample of 50 mothers and their children with cancer at inpatient and outpatient departments at Oncology Institute in Mansoura City. Tools: An interview questionnaire formto collect data about socio-demographic characteristics for studied mothers and their children, assessment of knowledge related childhood cancer and chemotherapy sheet and reported practice of mothers related to care of their children who undergoing chemotherapy sheet. Results: revealed that, only 14% of mothers had satisfactory knowledge related childhood cancer and chemotherapy .In relation to total reported practice, only 34.0% of the studied mothers had total reported practice related to side effects management of chemotherapy.The study recommended: developing frequent educational training programs for mothers of children with cancer about care of their children who undergoing chemotherapy through updated posters, booklets and brochures and a repeat of this research on a large sample and in various places in Egypt for improving mother's knowledge and practice.