Psychological problems and nursing intervention in parents of children with epilepsy at out-patient clinic

Abstract

Objective To evaluate mental health status of parents of children with epilepsy and to establish relevant nursing intervention strategies.Methods One hundred and six parents of children with epilepsy were randomly selected from out-patient in clinic.Mental health status was evaluated using the SCL-90 scale.Results The total score of SCL-90 scale was ( 152.29 ±23.71 ) and it' s higher than normal controls ( 129.60 ± 0.32),the difference was significant ( t =9.86,P ＜ 0.01 ).The scores for somatization,depression,anxiety,hostility,paranoid and the number of positive events in parents of children with epilepsy were significantly higher than that of the normal controls.Metal status of parents of children with epilepsy was improved obviously after specific psychology intervention,the difference was significant [ ( 152.29 ± 23.71 ) vs ( 126.40 ± 10.23 ) ;t =10.32,P ＜ 0.01 ].Conclusions Our data indicated that there were many mental health issues existed in parents of children with epilepsy.Significant improvement to psychological status was obtained after receiving proper nursing intervention. Key words: Epilepsy; Intervention strategies; Psychological nursing; Parents of children