Parents' Care About Pneumonia Among Preschool Children

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Nursing Master Student, Faculty of Nursing , Ain Shams University

2 Professor of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing , Ain Shams University

3 Lecturer of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing , Ain Shams University

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lung parenchyma and it is one
of the leading cause of mortality in children aged less than five years. Aim: Assess parents'
care for preschool children with pneumonia. Setting: pediatric outpatient clinic at the Nasser
Institute Hospital for Research and Treatment, Cairo, Egypt. Research design: A descriptive
design was used in this study. Sample: A purposive sample composed of 135 children
diagnosed with pneumonia and their parents attending the previous mentioned setting over a
period of 6 months during the winter and the autumn season. Tools: First tool, an
interviewing questionnaire designed by the researcher to assess a) socio-demographic data of
children, b) socio-demographic data of parents, C) parent’s knowledge, D) parent's practice.
Second tool, consisted of a) Child medical record data, Physical examination tool. Results:
More than half of the studied parents had unsatisfactory knowledge meanwhile, more than
one third of them had satisfactory knowledge. More than half of the studied parents had not
done practice meanwhile, more than one third of them had done practice. More than two
thirds of the studied children had health problems meanwhile, more than one third of them
had no health problems. More than half of the studied children had achieved needs
meanwhile, more than one third of them had not achieved needs. Conclusion: There was a
highly statistically significant relation between the studied parents demographic
characteristics (age, education level and occupation) and satisfactory knowledge. There was
a statistically significant relation between the studied parents demographic characteristics
(age, education level and occupation) and done practice. There was a highly statistically
significant positive correlation between total knowledge and total practice.
Recommendations: Further research studies are needed for ongoing assessment of children
and parents including large sample for generalization of results.

Keywords