Nivel de conocimiento sobre el asma en padres y/o cuidadores de niños y adolescentes de 5 a 17 años que acuden a los servicios de emergencia por ataques recurrentes de asma

Abstract

Objective: Determine the level of knowledge about asthma in parents or caregivers in a population of 5 to 17 years of age who attended the emergency services due to asthma attacks and to correlate it with the level of academic instruction of the parents and the recurrence of the asthmatic crises in children and adolescents. Methods: This was a descriptive and transverse cross study. A Newcastle Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire (NAKQ) was used. The population was made up of 31 parents of children and adolescents who went to the emergency service of Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital, Jose Carrasco Arteaga Hospital and Maternal Child Center. For the statistic analysis the Excel program was used and for its correlation was used a statistical software SPSS version 22.0 through Fisher’s exact test. Results: The results on the level of knowledge about asthma in the parents were unsatisfactory in 83.90% and 16.10% satisfactory. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant correlation both with the number of recurrences to the emergency services (p = 0.525) and in the same way with the level of academic instruction (p = 0.178). Conclusions: The majority of parents of asthmatic children and adolescents affected an unsatisfactory level of knowledge regarding the disease, however, the correlation was not found between the level of knowledge of the parents and the recurring visits to the emergency areas, in the same way for the educational level of the parents. Being necessary to promote new educational strategies referred to parents in the emergency services that contribute to the knowledge, care and control of the disease.