Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

Knowledge and attitude of parent toward pediatric lumbar puncture and its relationship with demographical factors in Al-ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Yameen Almatawah¹, Fadi Busaleh², Ahmed Alkhars^3♦, Wejdan Almarzooq³, Mohammed Almarzooq³, Abdullah Alkhars³, Abdulhakim Almarzooq³, Alreem Albaqshi³, Fatimah Alkhars⁴

¹Pediatric Infectious Disease Consultant, King Fahad Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
²Pediatric Resident, Maternity & Childhood Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
³Medical Student, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
⁴Medical Resident, Prince Saud bin Jalawi Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Ahmed Alkhars, Al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, P.O Box: 4917, Zip: 31982, E-mail: Azamkx@gmail.com, Phone: 00966558996684

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Lumbar puncture (LP) or spinal tap is a procedure where a sample of the cerebrospinal fluid is extracted utilizing a needle. Despite the fact, LP is safe and has therapeutic and diagnostic value; many parents refuse to give consent for performing the procedure on their children which hinder the process of diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this study is to describe the level of knowledge and attitudes toward LP of parents in AlAhsa and its correlation with various factors like age, ethnicity, level of education, socio-economical state. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated the knowledge and attitude of parents of LP and its correlation with demographical factors in AlAhsa, Saudi Arabia. Data were obtained through an online questionnaire. Basic statistical parameters were calculated including frequency mean and proportions. Independent T-test and ANOVA test were used to test for association. Results: A total of 466 responses have been included in the study, of which it showed that only 12.6% of the participant refused to give consent to LP when needed. Only 8.40% had a high level of knowledge. However, 61.1% of respondents were categorized with high level of attitude. A significant association was observed between knowledge level groups and total attitude scores towards LP, the higher the total knowledge scores, the better the total attitude scores towards LP (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite the lack of knowledge and the misconception of LP, parents’ attitude showed high levels of acceptance. Further community education regarding the importance of LP and the safety of procedures is highly recommended.

Keywords: Pediatric, Lumbar Puncture, Knowledge, Attitude, Epidemiology.

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 2883-2892

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