The quality of information received by parents of children with chronic ill health attending hospitals as indicated by measures of illness uncertainty.
BACKGROUND
The effectiveness of communication can be defined in terms of one of its outcomes: the uncertainty that it eliminates. Clear unambiguous communication is important for the parents of children to help them understand problems, explore alternative solutions and help make decisions. Persistent uncertainty is known to produce anxiety, unpredictable responses, emotional distress and poor quality of life. The uncertainty experienced by parents is one indicator of quality in the healthcare system which could have diagnostic and predictive value.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the uncertainty experienced by parents of children with chronic conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).


METHODS
An exploratory descriptive, cross-sectional design was chosen across different sites in the UAE.


METHODS
Data were collected from parents accompanying children receiving treatment either as an inpatient or outpatient, using the previously validated, culturally adapted 'Parent Perception of Uncertainty Scale' (PPUS).


RESULTS
Most study participants experienced moderate or high levels of uncertainty. Parents who did not speak the local language, whose child was less than 1 year old or who was acutely ill had significantly more uncertainty than others, as did those parents whose child was approaching adolescence and puberty.


CONCLUSIONS
As only 5% of all participants reported low levels of uncertainty this should be of major concern as both an indicator of the quality of communication between health professionals and parents, and of the adverse health effects and poor quality of life experienced by parents of patients with chronic illness.
Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Nabeel
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5355-8639
N
Al-Yateem
Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Charles
C
Docherty
Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Hanan
H
Altawil
Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Muna
M
Al-Tamimi
Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Alaa
A
Ahmad
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D035501:Uncertainty; D014479:United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates; cross-sectional study; midwives; nurses; nursing; quality of information; uncertainty