Parental Attitudes About Lumbar Puncture in Children With Suspected Central Nervous System Infection

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate parents' attitudes toward lumbar puncture (LP) for their children with suspected central nervous system infection to determine the reasons for rejection and related factors. Methods The survey was provided to parents of children (1 month to 18 years old) for whom LP was recommended because of a concern for central nervous system infection. Sociodemographic characteristics and other related factors of parents who did and did not approve of LP were compared statistically. The reasons for the disapproval of parents who refused LP were revealed. Results A total of 100 parents were included in the study. Eighty-two percent of the participating parents were mothers, and the median age of the mothers was 31 years (min: 17 years; max: 70 years). The median age of the fathers was 37 years (min: 22 years; max: 60 years). Among the parents, 34% did not give consent for LP. The most common reason for the participants to refuse LP was fear of paralysis of their children due to the procedure (82.3%). There was a statistical difference between the approval of the LP procedure and the person who informed the parents about the LP procedure and read the informed consent form (P = 0.004 and P = 0.038, respectively). As a result of the binary logistic regression analysis, it was seen that the rate of acceptance of the LP procedure by the parents informed by the specialist doctors was 7.1-fold (P = 0.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.3–37.6) higher than the parents informed by the resident physicians. Conclusion The informed consent process mainly influenced parents' attitudes toward LP. To increase the acceptance rates of LP, we should standardize the informed consent process so that it is not affected by factors such as seniority of the physician.