title: An evaluation of disease knowledge in dyads of parents and their adolescent children with congenital heart disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Congenital heart disease (CGHD) can be considered a chronic disease for many patients. To adopt a healthy lifestyle and to avoid complications, patients with CGHD and their parents need to have good knowledge of the heart defect and its consequences.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to evaluate patient and parental knowledge of CGHD and to explore the related factors of their respective disease knowledge.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 116 dyads of adolescents with CGHD (43.1% male adolescents; aged 12-18 years) and one of their parents (79.3% mothers; median age, 46 years). All participants completed the Leuven Knowledge Questionnaire for Congenital Heart Disease, and then we calculated a correct rate score to determine the overall disease knowledge of the respondents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The correct rate score was 38.8% for adolescents with CGHD and 51.4% for parents (t = 7.69; P < .001). The only determinant of knowledge in parents was their educational level (standardized estimate = 6.160, P < .001). In adolescents, knowledge was determined by age (standardized estimate = 2.242, P = .002) and parental knowledge (standardized estimate = 0.311, P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although parents have significantly greater disease knowledge than their children do, the level of knowledge in both parents and adolescents is suboptimal. Because parents' knowledge influenced their adolescents' knowledge, educational interventions should target both adolescent patients and parents. Transition programs can play a pivotal role in this respect.
authors.affiliation: Hsiao-Ling Yang, RN, MSc Instructor, College of Medicine, Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Yueh-Chih Chen, PhD, RN Professor, College of Medicine and Nursing, Department of Nursing, Hungkuang University, Taichung, Taiwan. Jou-Kou Wang, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei. Bih-Shya Gau, PhD, RN Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Philip Moons, PhD, RN Professor, Center for Health Services and Nursing Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yueh-Chih
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jou-Kou
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bih-Shya
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Gau
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moons
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires