Determining the Knowledge Level of Parents about Their Children’s Rational Drug Use

Abstract

The main responsibility for the rational use of drugs (RUD) in children belongs to the parents. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and awareness level of parents about RUD in children. The study included literate volunteer parents with no learning disability. The rational drug use scale (RDUS), developed by Demirtas, was modified to assess parents' knowledge about RUD in children (higher score indicates higher knowledge level). Questionnaires for which all questions were not answered were excluded from the study. Two-group differences (gender, employment status, health insurance) were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare the differences among three or more groups (age: ≤30, 30-40 and >40 years; education level: elementary, high school, associate degree and bachelor degree or higher; income: <2000 TL, 2000-5000TL and >5000 TL; number of children: 1, 2, 3 and ≥4). The study included 410 participants (mean age: 35±8.2; female: 58.3%). The mean scores obtained from the scale was 21.31 ± 4.1. Among females, the knowledge of RUD varied across education level (X2=32.333, p<0.001), income class (X2=16.096, p<0.001) and the number of children (X2=7.868, p=0.049). RDUS score was higher in employed females compared to non-employed females (U=2337.5, p<0.001). In male participants, the knowledge of RUD varied across education level (X2=32.130, p<0.001), income class (X2=16.893, p<0.001) and the number of children (X2=8.307, p=0.040). It was concluded that parents displayed incorrect attitudes and behavours regarding the use of drugs for in children.