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Maternal Understanding of Infective Endocarditis After Hospitalization: Assessing the Knowledge of Mothers of Children with Congenital Heart Disease and the Practical Implications

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the knowledge of mothers of children with congenital heart disease as well as the association of cardiological factors and maternal characteristics with maternal understanding. Mothers of 135 children (≤2 years old) were interviewed to assess maternal knowledge of infective endocarditis (IE) using the Hannover Inventory of Parental Knowledge of Congenital Heart Disease. Two subscales, endocarditis and risk factors, were used. Cardiological data as well as maternal characteristics were collected. Two-thirds of the mothers achieved only low scores, answering 0–20 % of the questions correctly (endocarditis = 64.4 %; risk factors = 71.1 %). Mothers with higher education recalled the correct definition of IE (P = 0.001) and the importance of dental hygiene (P = 0.004) more often. Mothers with only one child were more likely to know the most typical symptom (P = 0.007). The severity of the heart disease and the requirement of endocarditis prophylaxis did not influence maternal understanding. Yet, mothers assessing the heart disease as severe showed better knowledge (typical symptom P = 0.021; importance of dental hygiene P = 0.007). If mothers learned the diagnosis before their child’s birth, they remembered relevant information more often. Mothers receiving information by the medical staff and from the Internet showed better knowledge (definition P = 0.014; importance of dental hygiene P = 0.001). Due to low levels of knowledge, more efforts must be put into the education of mothers. Educational programs should take maternal characteristics into account, providing written material and thereby keeping the instruction of lower-educated persons in mind. Furthermore, education should be focused on mothers of children requiring IE prophylaxis.

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Acknowledgments

We owe thanks to our colleagues at the Clinic for Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Intensive Care for their support for conducting this study. The study was funded by the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) under grants GE 1167/5-1 and WE2670/3-1 to Siegfried Geyer and Armin Wessel, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Sociology Unit, Hannover Medical School, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Anja Knöchelmann & Siegfried Geyer

  2. Clinic of Pediatric Cardiology and Intensive Care, Hannover Medical School, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Urte Grosser

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  1. Anja Knöchelmann
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  2. Siegfried Geyer
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  3. Urte Grosser
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Correspondence to Anja Knöchelmann.

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Knöchelmann, A., Geyer, S. & Grosser, U. Maternal Understanding of Infective Endocarditis After Hospitalization: Assessing the Knowledge of Mothers of Children with Congenital Heart Disease and the Practical Implications. Pediatr Cardiol 35, 223–231 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-013-0763-8

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