Knowledge and Home Practices of Caregivers Having Children with Leukemia Attending National Cancer Institute Cairo University

Children with leukemia usually suffer from many health problems and complications as a result of the disease process or the course of treatment. Aim of the Study: Was to assess the knowledge and home practices of family caregivers having children with leukemia. Design: Descriptive correlational research design was utilized in this study. Setting: The study was conducted at the out-patient clinic of the Pediatric Oncology Department at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University. Sample: A sample of 192 family caregivers of newly diagnosed children with leukemia between the ages of 6-12 years of age who were receiving chemotherapy. Tools for Data Collection: Three tools were used. 1-Structured interviewing sheet: It had three parts: a. Sociodemographic characteristic of the children as: Age, gender, education, child rank, etc... b. Sociodemographic characteristic of the caregivers as: Age, gender, education, etc... c. Disease information: Family history of cancer, types of treatment taken, etc... 2- Knowledge questionnaire sheet consisted of 24 questions related to the caregiver s knowledge as disease definition, causes, signs and symptoms, etc... 3- Practice questionnaire sheet consisted of 27 questions related to the caregiver s practices such as care of symptoms and side effects of chemotherapy, etc... Results: More than two third of caregivers had partially satisfactory knowledge and practice scores concerning home care, dealing with disease and side effects of treatments. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between total knowledge and total practice scores of family caregivers. A statistically significant correlation was found between total knowledge practice scores and caregiver s education, income, place of residence, number of children in the family and duration of care. Conclusion: The study concluded that, the majority of caregivers had lack of knowledge and practices regarding care of their children with leukemia. Recommendation: Based on the study results it is recommended to develop a health education programs tailored to improve knowledge and home care practices of caregivers having children with leukemia.