Knowledge and attitudes on hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and therapeutic hypothermia: Results of an educational intervention.

Abstract

Background: Perinatal asphyxia, caused to the fetus/ neonate by hypoxia and/or tissue hypoperfusion, can lead to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is an effective treatment for moderate/severe HIE. Objective: To determine health staff and students´ knowledge and attitudes about HIE and TH before and after an educational intervention, Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Escuela (HE), Tegucigalpa, 2019. Methods: Quasi-experimental study. Physicians, nurses and pregrade and postgraduate students were invited to participate by informed consent. The trial consisted in a pre-intervention evaluation (Phase 1), followed by educational intervention, video and document sent by WhatsApp application, and post-intervention evaluation (Phase 2). Socio-demographic characteristics were recorded. Knowledge (Excellent, Very good, Good, Poor) and attitudes (Good, Fair, Bad, Very bad) were evaluated. The change (Delta Percentage) was measured between proportion of participants according to knowledge and attitudes before and after the intervention. Results: From 181 potential participants, 147 (81.2%) participated in Phase 1 and in Phase 2, 127 (70.2%). Initially, 93.2% (137) showed poor knowledge; good attitude 38.0% (56), regular 28.0% (41), bad 32.0% (47). Good knowledge increased by 561.2% (3.1% versus 20.5%), very good knowledge increased by 185.1% (4.7% versus 13.4%), poor knowledge decreased by 35.9% (92.2% versus 59.1%). The regular attitude increased by 37.0% (27.0% versus 37.0%), bad attitude decreased 30.4% (32.8% versus 22.8%). Discussion: The educational intervention improved knowledge and attitude in relation to HT and EHI. The HT available in the HE can improve the outcome of EHI. It is recommended to strengthen institutional educational measures on the HT protocol.