Parental knowledge and attitudes regarding asthma in their children: Impact of an educational intervention in an Indian population

Abstract

Introduction and Objectives Research shows positive effects of asthma education in improving parental knowledge, self‐management skills, and reducing healthcare costs. Such studies are lacking in resource‐limited countries. We studied the effectiveness of educational intervention in improving the knowledge and attitudes of parents/caregivers of asthmatic children. Methods The study was conducted in the pediatric chest clinic of tertiary hospital (India) over 21 months after ethics committee approval. Recruited parents were randomized into the interventional group (A) receiving education module and control group (B). Parents' asthma knowledge and attitudes were assessed at baseline and 5 months postenrollment using 25‐item questionnaire. Detailed demographic data, clinical data, and exacerbations during study were noted. Results A total of 75 parents/guardians fulfilling inclusion criteria were analyzed (cases/group A: 37 and controls/group B: 38). 8.3 percent of parents/caregivers were illiterate. Around 36.9% of patients had a family history of allergy/asthma. Mean knowledge scores at follow‐up were 12.24 and 9.89 for groups A and B, respectively (P < .05). Parents did better on knowledge items related to chronicity, family history, chronic cough, home administration of steroids in acute severe asthma, and maintaining records of clinical/medications for good control. Intervention group (A) showed significant improvement in most attitude‐based questions postintervention as compared with the nonintervention group (B). There was no statistically significant difference in asthma severity and control between the two groups at follow‐up. Conclusions Small group education on asthma in parents/caregivers improves their knowledge and attitudes. Healthcare plans should invest in pediatric asthma education and identify key personnel/opportunities to impart the same in routine care.

Asthma-Related Knowledge and Practices among Mothers of Asthmatic Children: A Latent Class Analysis

“…Several questionnaires have been developed for evaluating parental knowledge and practices about childhood asthma [ 6 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. However, findings from these studies have highlighted that the construction of reliable self-report asthma knowledge instruments may not be achievable in practice [ 14 ].…”

“…For this reason, the issue of criterion validity (the correlation between the test and a previously validated criterion taken as representative of the construct) has not sufficiently been addressed in previous studies of asthma knowledge/practice questionnaires [ 19 ]. Some attempts to identify subgroups of respondents with “good knowledge” have been based on somewhat arbitrary criteria: subgroups of parents selected by pediatricians [ 13 ], subjects receiving education modules [ 12 ], mothers with a total score greater than the 50th percentile [ 11 ]. On the other side, commonly assessed properties are content and face validity [ 12 , 18 ], internal consistency [ 15 , 17 ], and Test-Retest Reliability [ 12 , 17 ].…”

“…Some attempts to identify subgroups of respondents with “good knowledge” have been based on somewhat arbitrary criteria: subgroups of parents selected by pediatricians [ 13 ], subjects receiving education modules [ 12 ], mothers with a total score greater than the 50th percentile [ 11 ]. On the other side, commonly assessed properties are content and face validity [ 12 , 18 ], internal consistency [ 15 , 17 ], and Test-Retest Reliability [ 12 , 17 ]. Another important aspect to consider is that answers may not always be identified as objectively correct or incorrect, and items may not be equally important [ 16 ].…”

Knowledge, attitudes and quality of life of caregivers towards asthma in their children: a Nigerian perspective

“…Education of parents/caregivers of asthmatic patients on asthma in small groups has been found to improve their knowledge and attitudes (43). Hospital stay should be considered an opportunity to educate children and their families about asthma (28).…”

Teaching with Disruptive Technology: The Use of Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality (HoloLens) for Disease Education

“…While poor patient adherence to asthma selfmanagement is a factor contributing to this burden, patient education is at the forefront of asthma control. Many patients lack the knowledge and awareness of asthma and its severity due to lack of information among patients, families, health professionals, as well as school staff (Divecha et al, 2020, Coelho et al, 2016. Asthma patients rely solely on their physicians as the most important source of information on asthma, due to lack of awareness or time to attend asthma education programs or general feelings of discomfort (Atmann et al, 2019, Canonica et al, 2007.…”