The effect of education on the knowledge of the mothers in preventing rheumatic fever

Abstract

Introduction: Providing physical and mental health is the most important role of human beings. One of the major goals in health science is to prevent diseases and to promote public health. Since children are future treasures of a nation, prevention of rheumatic fever is essential. One-third of patients with rheumatic fever develop cardiovascular valve disorders. If a child develops such disorder, he/she will be disable for all his life imposing high costs on the society. So, this research was carried out to investigate the effects of mothers' education on their knowledge in rheumatic fever prevention.

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study on 45 mothers referred to Isfahan clinics. The data were collected by primary and secondary tests. Descriptive inferential (paired t-test) statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: The findings showed that mothers' knowledge is significantly associated with parameters such as age, education, disease history, marriage, age, family income and the source of knowledge (P<0.001). There was a significant effect of education on mothers' knowledge in preventing rheumatic fever (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Since mothers' knowledge plays a major role in children's disease prevention, education can be an effective way to decrease disease prevalence and to promote public health.

Key words: Education, Prevention, Rheumatic Fever.