Parental knowledge and participation in the management of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at Tripoli children hospital, rheumatology department.
Ebtiasm khawaja, Mabruka Zletni, Aawatif abushhawia
Abstract:
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis(JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in children and constitute the bulk of pediatric rheumatology clinic patients, parents of children with JIA face challenges when caring for these children, and parents knowledge are important to help in the management of such a chronic disease, and to prevent complications. The aim of this study is to: Investigate parents knowledge about their child's disease in general, to focus on important role of health education in understanding this disease and to establish a future plan for establishing an education program to the newly diagnosed cases and a general public health program .methods: descriptive, cross sectional design was adopted, one hundred sets of parents of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis were assessed by using a designed questionnaire that contains 29 multiple choice questions, the study was carried out in pediatric rheumatology clinic, Tripoli children hospital in the period from January to July 2017.  The questionnaire addressed 6 main areas:1.parental awareness about the child's diagnosis, 2.source of information and their satisfaction, 3.general knowledge about definition of arthritis and disease etiology, 4.knowledge regarding medical and physical treatment, 5.knowledge regarding participation in physical activities during school days, and 6.knowledge regarding vaccination. Results: 97% parents answered the question of diagnosis of their children correctly, although 68% had no previous knowledge on juvenile idiopathic arthritis before start following in rheumatology clinic. In 72% of the participant the source of information was the physician, and in 56% of theme this information is considered to be satisfactory. Conclusion: questionnaire is simple way to investigate the parental knowledge regarding juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the results showed high level of knowledge in majority of parents of children with JIA, although some wrong believes were discovered, and this possibly reflecting the good quality of educational program followed in the clinic. Reduced level of knowledge  about the disease before start of follow up indicate the need for general public health education program to improve the awareness of chronic arthritis in children and this will help in the early referral of such cases 

Key words: questionnaire, parental knowledge, juvenile arthritis
 
Address for correspondence 
Dr Mabruka Ahmed Zletni MD
Tripoli children hospital/ rheumatology department
Associate professor, pediatric department, Tripoli university
E mail:dr_zletni@hotmail.com
Tel: +218923922259

Parental knowledge and participation in the management of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at Tripoli children hospital, rheumatology department.