Effect of booklet and combined method on parents' awareness of children with beta-thalassemia major disorder.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of booklet and combining methods (lecture, video, etc.) on parents' awareness of children with beta-thalassemia major disorder. METHODS Two groups of parents (n=30 each) of children with thalassemia were selected randomly. Among educational programmes, in one group booklet and in the other group combined method were used. A questionnaire was designed to gather information about the disease from parents of the two groups. The data were analysed using student's t-test and Pearson's correlation, significance was considered at p < 0.05. RESULTS There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean age, gender, level of education, job, number of affected children, and age of the child. However, in both methods of education (lecture and combined), knowledge of parents about the disease significantly increased (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The education whether through booklet or combined method has a significant positive effect on increasing knowledge of the investigated groups. It is recommended that increased knowledge levels of parents can decrease the burden of beta-thalassemia.