Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of parents and guardians of children with epilepsy at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
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Date
2000Author
Muasya, Ck
Wafula, EM
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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OBJECTIVE:
To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of parents and guardians of children with epilepsy regarding the illness.
DESIGN: cross-sectional study.
SETTING: Paediatric Neurology Clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
RESULTS: 116 parents and guardians were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Focused group discussions (FGDs) were also carried out on 42 other parents and guardians. More than 77% of the parents/ guardians (P/G) had some knowledge on the type of illness their children were suffering from, the features of a convulsion, the alerting features before convulsions, the type of antiepileptic drug treatment their children were receiving and the potential hazards to an epileptic child during a convulsion. Many P/G did not know the causes of epilepsy, alerting features prior to a convulsion or the complications of epilepsy. 60% of the P/G administered some recommended first aid measures to their epileptic children during a fit, but many of them combined these with potentially harmful first aid measures. 40% of the epileptic children of school going age in this study were not attending school because of problems which should not have interfered with school. Spiritual healing, and to a lesser extent traditional herbal medicine were perceived to be important components of therapy for epilepsy when used in conjunction with western treatment. A higher level of formal education of the P/G had a positive influence on their KAP towards epilepsy. The findings of the FGD’s corroborated those of the questionnaire interviews.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Health Education should be given at all levels of contact with P/G, to enhance their KAP towards epilepsy, as this was likely to impact positively on the care accorded the children living with epilepsy.
Citation
Muasya Ck, Wafula Em Ktomnd. Knowledge Attitudes And Practices (kap) Of Parents And Guardians Of Children With Epilepsy At Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.. Nairobi: University Of Nairobi; 2000.Publisher
University of Nairobi, College of Health Sciences,