Caring Behavior of the Guardians of Pediatric Patients with Asthma Aged 0-5 years in Damnoen Saduak Hospital, Ratchaburi.

Abstract

          Objective: This research took aim at studying the caring behaviors among the care-givers of pedriatic patients aged 0-5 with asthma and comparing their caring behaviors related to education level and economic status. 

          Method: In this was a descriptive study, thirty-nine caregivers of pediatric patients aged 0-5 years treated at the asthma clinic from May to June 2017 were enrolled in the study population. The study tool consisted of the interview questionnaire for the caregivers of pediatric patients with asthma; the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were verified by three experts. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, i.e., frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Relation of the studied factors to the caring behaviors was analyzed by using chi square.

          Results:

1. A little over half of the respondents in this study were male (51.3%); and an average age was thirty-one years. Most of the respondents graduated up to a primary school level and were hired for wages (51.3% both),and most of them had adequate income (79.5%). 
2. All the respondents presented capability to take care pediatric asthma in accordance with the “always cleaning home, caring patients from dust and I living in uncrowded and airy place, having the child refrain from eating ice cream when suffering from wheezing, and rinsing the patients’s mouths and throats after using the steroid inhaler”. however, 64.1 percent of the practices were detected for buying the medication to treat patients by themselves.
3. Most of the respondents received the information of asthma care from physicians and or nurses (89.7%) and about ten percent from pharmacists (10.3%). 
4. Most of the respondents in this study had good at care practice for pediatric asthma aged 0-5 years (84.6%); 15.4 percent of them had average level.
5. When classified by education level and economic status, there was no statistical difference among the caregivers in care behaviors of pedriatic asthma.

          The result of the study provided nurses with understanding of management behaviors and asthma symptom control in children of the families,and served as a guide for promoting the care of children with asthma.

              Conclusion: This study presented that 84.6% of family-caregivers of children with asthma had total high level of caring practices. In connection with the household management, all management aspects were good; therefore, there was no challenge in household expenditure. In addition, the caregivers had capability to take care their children with asthma as well as managed all relevance.