Introduction: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a chronic disease that is characterized by massive proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, hyperlipemia, and edema. Inadequate parental knowledge about NS may prevent early detection of relapse or medications' side effects and delay the treatment.
Aim of the study: to measure the baseline level of knowledge, attitude and practice among parents of children with NS and to evaluate the effect of health education program on enhancing their knowledge, attitude and practice.
Methods: A prospective interventional study included 50 caregivers of children with confirmed diagnosis of NS recruited from the Pediatric Nephrology clinic Ain Shams, Egypt. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic data of children and their caregiver, anthropometric data and medical history of patients. Caregivers were evaluated for pre-intervention and 3-months-post- intervention for knowledge across 5 domains (the disease, nutrition, follow-up, psychological and physical aspects), attitude and practice across 4 domains (nutrition, follow-up, psychological and physical aspects).
Results: The mean age of the studied children was 7.8±3.1 years, males represented 58% of them. The mean mothers' age was 34.6±6.1 years. Physicians were the primary source of data for all of them. Following interventional program, a significant improvement occurred in the mean knowledge score (from 72.8±7.8 to 86.4±5.7), the attitude score (from14.6±1.7 to 16.7 ±2.1) and the practice score (from 17.6±3.1 to 19.4±3.5). Knowledge and attitude scores correlated with mother's education, the attitude score correlated with the gender of the patients and the practice score negatively correlated with the child's age.
Conclusion: knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers of children with NS significantly improved after the application of educational program. The study highlights the importance of applying a comprehensive interventional educational program for patients and their families, for better outcomes of the disease.