The attitudes, experiences, and concerns of parents of children aged under three years old, with lower respiratory tract infections, regarding respiratory management

Abstract

Introduction: Parents are key members in the treatment process of their child’s lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). Despite the availability of literature on medical management and physiotherapy techniques for children with LRTIs, the perspectives of their parents towards the condition and the treatment remain unknown. This study aimed to explore the attitudes, experiences, and concerns of parents of children aged under three years old, with LRTIs, regarding the respiratory management of their child. Methods: Parents of children aged under three with a LRTI from both in-and-out patient departments participated in a qualitative exploratory study with semi-structured individual interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and data were analysed using the deductive approach. Raw quotes were extracted from the interviews to highlight themes identified. Results: Data saturation was reached at 12 interviews. The mean age of participants was 34.3 (SD ± 4.9) years, and the children had a mean age of 18.8 (SD± 6.5) months. All participants were the mother of the child. The frequent codes that emerged formed sub-themes and these have led to an encompassing theme. The encompassing theme was labelled “It is tough taking care of a sick child”. Three important sub-themes were identified namely: personal challenges; treatment options and parent understanding. Some important categories that were highlighted included the implication of the feeding and sleeping routine, financial implications, physiotherapy management, involvement of the healthcare team and the different home management strategies to take care of a sick child. Conclusion: This is the first study to focus on the parent’s perspective of their own management and those of other healthcare professionals during the respiratory management of their child. Especially treatment other than antibiotic use such as chest physiotherapy. Despite the cardinal role parents play in the management of their child’s condition they still felt ineffective and had a stressful experience taking care of their children during this period. Specialised healthcare professionals can positively impact the experience of the parent’s ability to take care of their sick child by involving the families and offering appropriate and timeous advice. Comprehending the parent’s understanding, expectation and previous experience of the condition can be used as a starting point to establish further treatment goals.