The Anxiety Level, Awareness and Expectations from Pediatric Cardiologist of Parents Whose Children Have Been Diagnosed with a Cardiac Murmur During the General Physical Examination

Objective: To determine the anxiety levels, awareness of the need to go to a pediatric cardiology clinic and the expectations from pediatric cardiologists of parents whose children have a cardiac murmur. Material and Methods: Children with cardiac murmurs diagnosed during general physical examinations and presented at pediatric cardiology clinics for the first time were included in the study. Both pathological and innocent murmurs were included. The questionnaire forms consisting of 7 questions were answered by 354 families presenting at the pediatric cardiology clinic between May and August 2013 Results: The anxiety level of the parents when they learned that their children had cardiac murmur was 8 out of 10 points. The parents’ awareness of a department dealing with pediatric heart disease was 60.7%, When their expectations were asked 8.4% of the parents said that a cardiac examination would be enough while 82.2% thought that echocardiography should be performed. It was determined that 59% of the parents presented at a pediatric cardiology clinic within a day and 29.6% within a week. According to 79.9% of the parents, the murmur was a sign of a serious heart disease; 51.4% of them investigated and obtained information about the murmur, and 55.4% of them used the internet for this purpose. Ankara Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Hematoloji Onkoloji Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Çocuk Kardiyoloji Kliniği, Ankara, Türkiye Doğukan AKTAŞ, İ. İlker ÇETİN, Jale YILDIZ, Mehmet Emre ARI, Sancar EMİNOĞLU, Filiz EKİCİ, Abdullah KOCABAŞ Genel Muayene Sırasında Saptanan Kardiyak Üfürümlerde Ailelerin Endişe Düzeyi ve Farkındalığı, Çocuk Kardiyolojisi Uzmanından Beklentileri The Anxiety Level, Awareness and Expectations from Pediatric Cardiologist of Parents Whose Children Have Been Diagnosed with a Cardiac Murmur During the General Physical Examination