The Impact of Multimedia Education on Knowledge and Self-efficacy among Parents of Children with Asthma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

INTRODUCTION Asthma is one of the most common chronic disease among children, and is considered as a global health problem. According to the guidelines of childhood Asthma, parental education in order to improve their knowledge and self-efficacy should be considered in clinical care. Therefore, this study was performed with the purpose of investigating the influence of multimedia education on knowledge and self-efficacy of the parents of children with Asthma. METHODS This study is a clinical trial which was carried out on 50 parents of children with Asthma. Data collection instrument included the demographic questionnaires, assessing knowledge and self-efficacy of the parents of children with Asthma. Reliability and validity of the instruments were assessed and the multimedia education was carried out for the experimental group. Data analysis was done using SPSS 13 and descriptive inferential statistical tests (independent t-test and Mann-Whitney). RESULTS History of Asthma was present in majority 52% of the families of the children and 54% reported smoking in their home. The average scores of knowledge and self-efficacy of the study samples in the experimental group showed an increase after multimedia education methods, so that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. CONCLUSION The results obtained in this study also demonstrate that educating parents through multimedia technology increase their knowledge and self-efficacy in their care of children.