TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents' Experience and Satisfaction in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Ethiopia
T2 - A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study Using an Adapted Version of EMPATHIC-N
AU - Gulo, Berhanu
AU - Miglierina, Laura
AU - Tognon, Francesca
AU - Panunzi, Silvia
AU - Tsegaye, Ademe
AU - Asnake, Tina
AU - Manenti, Fabio
AU - Dall'Oglio, Immacolata
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the parents who participated in our study and the staff of the hospitals involved for their availability and collaboration. We are also grateful to Dr. Andrea Dotta, MD, MS, Ph.D., Head of the NICU, Prof. Andrea Finocchi, MD, MS, Ph.D. Head of the Unit of Immuno-infectivology, the staff working in their units and the International Activities Department of Bambino Ges? Children's Hospital IRCCS for the support to the quality improvement project in the Ethiopian NICUs. A special thanks goes to Prof. Worku Bogale, of the Ethiopian Pediatric Society, for his suggestions during the implementation of the study and to Dr. Meseret Zelalem, the Mother and Child Health Director FMoH, for her support and collaboration. Finally, we thank Jos M. Latour, Professor in Clinical Nursing at the University of Plymouth, author of the original EMPATHIC-N for granting us the permission to translate and adapt the questionnaire to the Ethiopian context.
Funding Information:
This research was conducted in the framework of project supported by Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) (Grant No. AID 11512/CUAMM/ETH). The project supported the research costs and the publication fees. The founders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Gulo, Miglierina, Tognon, Panunzi, Tsegaye, Asnake, Manenti and Dall'Oglio.
PY - 2021/10/8
Y1 - 2021/10/8
N2 - Background: In neonatal intensive care units (NICU) setting, parents' experience and satisfaction permit to evaluate clinical practice and improve the care of infants and parents. Little is known about this topic in low resource settings. The aim of this study was to (1) translate, adapt and validate the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPHATIC-N) questionnaire in two languages in Ethiopia (2) explore parents' satisfaction with the care received in the NICUs in three hospitals; and, (3) explore socio-demographic characteristics and level of the NICU influence on the EMPATHIC-N domains. Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study. Participants were recruited from three different NICUs in Ethiopia upon discharge. We reduced the original EMPATHIC-N instrument to 38 items, culturally adapted and validated it in two local languages. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to verify the factor structure of the questionnaire, investigating the relationship between items and the five latent domains. Single item scores and the aggregate scores of the domains were investigated across NICUs and in the sample overall. Differences in the distribution of the domain scores were tested according to socio-demographic participants' characteristics. The scores of four general questions about overall experience and satisfaction were investigated in relation to the participant's characteristics and NICU levels. Qualitative data were collected using four open-ended questions and a synthesis of results was provided. Results: Almost all the parents answered to the questionnaire (92%, n = 386). Questionnaire items on satisfaction on average scored more than four. The highest mean scores were obtained for Parental participation (median: 5.17; iqr: 4.67–5.62), while they were lower for Organization/Hospital environment (median: 4.67; iqr:4.33–5.17). Different levels of parent satisfaction were observed across the NICU levels showing a statistically higher satisfaction in level II NICU compared to the other levels. Education, place of residence and length of stay were associated with parental satisfaction and experience. Conclusion: This study validated two Ethiopian versions of the EMPATHIC-N questionnaire to assess parents' experience and satisfaction during their child's stay in the NICU. The differences found across the three levels of NICU suggest the need to further investigate the determinants of satisfaction.
AB - Background: In neonatal intensive care units (NICU) setting, parents' experience and satisfaction permit to evaluate clinical practice and improve the care of infants and parents. Little is known about this topic in low resource settings. The aim of this study was to (1) translate, adapt and validate the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPHATIC-N) questionnaire in two languages in Ethiopia (2) explore parents' satisfaction with the care received in the NICUs in three hospitals; and, (3) explore socio-demographic characteristics and level of the NICU influence on the EMPATHIC-N domains. Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study. Participants were recruited from three different NICUs in Ethiopia upon discharge. We reduced the original EMPATHIC-N instrument to 38 items, culturally adapted and validated it in two local languages. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to verify the factor structure of the questionnaire, investigating the relationship between items and the five latent domains. Single item scores and the aggregate scores of the domains were investigated across NICUs and in the sample overall. Differences in the distribution of the domain scores were tested according to socio-demographic participants' characteristics. The scores of four general questions about overall experience and satisfaction were investigated in relation to the participant's characteristics and NICU levels. Qualitative data were collected using four open-ended questions and a synthesis of results was provided. Results: Almost all the parents answered to the questionnaire (92%, n = 386). Questionnaire items on satisfaction on average scored more than four. The highest mean scores were obtained for Parental participation (median: 5.17; iqr: 4.67–5.62), while they were lower for Organization/Hospital environment (median: 4.67; iqr:4.33–5.17). Different levels of parent satisfaction were observed across the NICU levels showing a statistically higher satisfaction in level II NICU compared to the other levels. Education, place of residence and length of stay were associated with parental satisfaction and experience. Conclusion: This study validated two Ethiopian versions of the EMPATHIC-N questionnaire to assess parents' experience and satisfaction during their child's stay in the NICU. The differences found across the three levels of NICU suggest the need to further investigate the determinants of satisfaction.
KW - EMPATHIC
KW - Ethiopia
KW - multicenter study
KW - neonatal intensive care unit
KW - parents
KW - satisfaction
KW - surveys and questionnaires
KW - validation study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117688946&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85117688946&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fped.2021.738863
DO - 10.3389/fped.2021.738863
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117688946
SN - 2296-2360
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Pediatrics
JF - Frontiers in Pediatrics
M1 - 738863
ER -