HEALTH LITERACY OF CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective : The objective of this research was to study health literacy level of caregivers of childrens with epilepsy and to compare caregivers’ health literacy level, according to age, and educational levels.
Method : The samples of this research were 108 caregivers of children with epilepsy who undertook medical treatment at the outpatient department, the Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Prasat Neurological Institute, Bangkok. The samples were selected based on a purposive sampling. A research instrument was health literacy scale to measure caregivers’ health literacy levels. Quantitative collected data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, and standard deviation, and One-way ANOVA. A pairwise comparison was conducted by using LSD. The statistically significant was set at p < 0.05
Results : Most participants had a moderate level of health literacy (96.30%). When individual aspects were considered, the reading and understanding the letters and numbers (X = 8.19, S.D. = 1.72), and decision making about the care of childrens with epilepsy (X = 15.28, S.D. = 1.54) were at a very high level. However, the knowledge and understanding about epilepsy (X = 10.11, S.D. = 1.92), an access to health information and services (X = 10.33, S.D. = 3.48), and a communication to reduce the health risks of children with epilepsy (X = 13.58, S.D. = 2.79) were at a fair level. When personal factors, including age, and educational levels were compared, the participants aged 20-49 years old had higher level of health literacy than those of aged 50 years old or older. The participants graduated with a bachelor’s degree or higher had higher level of health literacy than those of one who graduated with secondary education or diploma, and elementary education or uneducated group with a statistical significance.
Conclusion : The findings of this study implied that the participants had a moderate level of health literacy. The participants with different age groups and educational levels had different levels of health literacy.
Article Details
References
Baker, D. W., Williams, M. V., Parker, R. M., Gazmararian, J. A., and Nurss, J. (1999). Development of a brief test to measure functional health literacy. Patient Education and Counseling, 38(1), 33-42.
Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., and Crotty, K. (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: An updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155, 97-107.
Bergman-Evans, B. (2006). AIDES to improving medication adherence in older adults. Geriatric Nursing, 27, 174-182.
Bickmore, T. W., et al. (2010). Usability of conversational agents by patients with inadequate health literacy : Evidence from two clini- cal trials. Journal of Health Communication, 15(Suppl. 2), 197-210.
Caplan R. et. al. (2005). Depression and anxiety disorders in pediatric epilepsy. Epilepsia, 46(5), 720-730.
Dewalt, D. A., and Hink, A. (2009). Health literacy and child health outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. Pediatrics, 124(3), 265-274.
Department of Health Service Support Ministry of Public Health. (2018). Strengthening and assessing knowledge of health and health behavior Children and Youth (aged 7-14 years) People aged 15 years and over. Nonthaburi: Health Education Division, Department of Health Service Support Ministry of Public Health.
Edmonton Epilepsy Association. (2011). Living with epilepsy. UCB Canada Inc.
Freedman, R., Jones, S., Lin, A., Robin, A., and Muir, K. (2008). Influence of parental health literacy and dosing responsibility on pediatric glaucoma medication adherence. Archives of Ophthalmology, 28(3), 4439 - 4448.
Ganzer, C. A., Insel, K. C., and Ritter, L. S. (2012). Associations between working memory, health literacy, and recall of the signs of stroke among older adults. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 44(236-243).
Gardiner, P., and Dvorkin, L. (2006). Promoting medication adherence in children. American Family Physician, 74, 793-798.
Howard, D. H., Sentell, T., and Gazmararian, J. A. (2006). Impact of health literacy on socioeconomic and racial differences in health in an elderly population. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 857-861.
Intarakamhang, U., and Kwanchuen, Y. (2016). The development and application of the ABCDE-health literacy scale for Thais. Asian Biomedicine, 10(6), 587-594.
Janisse, H. C., Naar-King, S., and Ellis, D. (2010). Brief report: parent’s health literacy among high-risk adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes. Journal Pediatric Psychology, 35, 436-440.
Lee, S. Y. D., Tsai, T. I., Tsai, Y. W., and Kuo, K. N. (2010). Health literacy, health status, and healthcare utilization of Taiwanese adults: Results from a national survey. BMC Public Health, 10, 614.
Levinthal, B. R., et al. (2008). Cognition and health literacy in patients with hyper- tension. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23, 1172-1176.
Lokker, N., et al. (2009). Parental misinterpretations of over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicine labels. Pediatrics, 123, 1464-1471.
McDonald, H. P., Garg, A. X., and Haynes, R. B. (2002). Interventions to enhance patient adherence to medication prescriptions: scientific review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 2868-2879.
Morrow, D., et al. (2006). Correlates of health literacy in patients with chronic heart failure. The Gerontologist, 46, 669-676.
Nguyen, R., and Tellez-Zenteno, J. (2009). Injuries in epilepsy: a review of its prevalence, risk factors, type of injuries and prevention. Neurology International, 1(20), 72-78.
Osterberg, L., and Blaschke, T. (2005). Adherence to medication. New England Journal of Medicine, 353, 487-497.
Paasche-Orlow, M. K., Parker, R. M., Gazmararian, J. A., Nielsen-Bohlman, L. T., and Rudd, R. R. (2005). The prevalence of limited health literacy. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 175-184.
Paschal, A. M., Mitchell, Q. P., Wilroy, J. D., Hawley, S. R., and Mitchell, J. B. (2016). Parent health literacy and adherencerelated outcomes in children with epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior, 56, 73-82.
Russ, S. A., Larson, K., and Halfon, N. (2012). A National Profile of Childhood Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder. Pediatrics, 129(2), 256-264.
Sande, J. W. (2004). The use of antiepileptic drugs-principles and practice. Epilepsia, 45(6), 28–34
Sanders, L. M., Thompson, V. T., and Wilkinson, J. D. (2007). Caregiver health literacy and the use of child health services. Pediatrics, 119(1), 86–92.
Sanders, L. M., Federico, S., Klass, P., Abrams, M. A., and Dreyer, B. (2009). Literacy and child health: a systematic review. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 163, 131–140.
Saengsuwan, J., Laohasiriwong, W., Boonyaleepan, S., Sawanyawisuth, K., Tiamkao, S., and Integrated Epilepsy Research Group. (2013).Knowledge, attitudes, and care techniques of caregivers of PWE in northeastern Thailand. Epilepsy and Behavior, 27, 257-263.
Thongthanasukan C., and Neelaphaijit N. (2016). Development of Health Literacy Tools for Diabetes and Hypertension Patients. Nonthaburi: Health Education Division, Department of Health Service Support Ministry of Public Health.
Von Wagner, C., Knight, K., Steptoe, A., and Wardle, J. (2007). Functional health literacy and health-promoting behavior in a national sample of British adults. Journal of Epidemiol Community Health, 61(12), 1086-1090.
Wittink, H., and Oosterhaven, J. (2018). Patient education and health literacy. Musculoskeletal Science & Practice, 38, 120-127.
World Health Organization. (2017). Atlas country resources for neurological disorders second edition. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Yin, H. S., Johnson, M., Mendelsohn, A. L., Abrams, M. A., Sanders, L. M., and Dreyer, B. P. (2009). The health literacy of parents in the United States: a nationally representative study. Pediatrics, 124(3), 289-298.
Yin, H. S., et al. (2010). Parents’ medication administration errors: role of dosing instruments and health literacy. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 164, 181-186.