Randomized Controlled Trail to Determine the Effectiveness of a Multimedia Education Program for Improving Mother Knowledge and Practice about Infant’s Colostomy

Abstract

Abstract: Since infants diagnosed with colostomy are in need of special care, the effectiveness of their care is related with their caregivers’ (especially mothers) awareness. Education is one of the methods that when used by nurses can increase the awareness of mothers. Therefore this study is aiming at the effectiveness of multimedia education on awareness of mothers whose infants have undergone colostomy surgery. Instruments and Methods: In this clinical trial, 60 mothers of infants with colostomy were selected as participants and divided into two groups of education with booklet and multimedia teaching program ,using simple random sampling, all of whom were hospitalized in the pediatric hospital affiliated to Tehran and Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. In both groups, before education, an awareness questionnaire was filled by mothers and the caregiving skills of mothers were evaluated using an observation checklist. In both groups, each mother individually participated in a 30-minute educational session about colostomy and how to care for it using an illustrated booklet or multimedia CD in a quiet environment. The first posttest were administered 5 days and the second posttest after one month, respectively. Then, filling the awareness questionnaire and the evaluation of skills using the observation checklist by blinded researcher. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistical tests in SPSS software V.13. Results: The mean (and standard deviation) awareness scores for mothers in intervention and control groups were 1.8(1.68) and 2.1(0.99) respectively, which indicates no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.63). However the awareness score of mothers in intervention group, five days after intervention had a significant (p=0.000) increase of 13(4.59) relative to the beginning of the study. Also results for the same group after a month show similar increases of 12.4(3.94) (p=0.000), While these values for control group five days and a month after the beginning of the study remained at 2(1.24) and 1.9(1.10) correspondingly. The results highlight the effectiveness of the chosen Multimedia education on awareness of mothers in intervention group (p=0.000). Discussion: A multimedia teaching program can have an impact on the awareness and caregiving skills of mothers in a longer duration of time. Therefore it is recommended to include this method of education in caregiving of these patients.