Mothers' Knowledge and Practice regarding care of their Children with Ventricular Septal Defect

Background: Ventricular septal defect is the most common congenital defects and accounts for nearly one-third of all major congenital anomalies. Aim: This study aimed to assess the mothers’ knowledge and practice regarding care of their children with ventricular septal defect. Design: A descriptive study was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study. Setting: The current study was conducted at the inpatient and outpatient departments of the Academic Institute for Heart surgery in Ain-Shams University. Subject: A purposive sample consisting of 60 children suffering from VSD and their accompanying mothers attending the previously mentioned setting. Tools: Data was collected through two tools. Tool 1: An interviewing questionnaire to assess mothers' knowledge regarding ventricular septal defect. Tool 2: Observational checklist included studied mothers' reported practice. Results: The study revealed that only 23.3% of mothers of children’s demonstrated satisfactory knowledge. Mothers of children also achieved a lower level of practice with only 26.7% achieved a poor level of practice. Study demonstrated strong positive relationships between mothers of children's knowledge, practice. Conclusions: There was more than two-thirds of the studied mothers had an unsatisfactory overall level of knowledge, and over one-third of them demonstrated inadequate practices. Additionally, there was a statistically significant relationship between the mothers’ socio-demographic characteristics and both their total knowledge and reported practices regarding the care of their children with ventricular septal defect. Recommendation: Continuous health educational program for mothers of children with ventricular septal defect initiatives be widely implemented, especially in low-income and rural areas.