Perceptions and Attitude towards Lumbar Puncture (LP) among Parents in Kuwait

Objective: To assess the knowledge, understanding and acceptance of lumbar puncture (LP) among parents of pediatric patients in hospitals Design: Questionnaire- based cross sectional survey Setting: Department of Pediatrics in three hospitals in Kuwait, namely, Al-Amiri, Al-Adan and Al-Jahra hospital Subjects: Three hundred and fifty-eight parents of children admitted with various underlying diagnoses Intervention: A self-administered questionnaire. Main Outcome Measures: Rate of acceptance of LP, characteristics of parents accepting and refusing LP, reasons for rejecting LP and means to improve LP acceptance among parents in Kuwait Results: A total of 358 parents responded to the questionnaire. Only 15.3% agreed for LP, 42.5% did not agree and 42.2% preferred taking a second opinion. Relationship to the child, nationality and educational level of the parent were significantly associated with acceptance of LP (p < 0.05). The majority (79.1%) answered that LP is unsafe because it might cause complications like paralysis (46.2%), pain (16.6%), infertility (17.2%), and deterioration of child's health (12.8%). Out of the parents who did not accept LP, 67.0% said that they might have changed their mind, if the procedure was fully explained by a doctor with the use of a diagram. Another group (66.0%) felt that the media can help to increase the acceptance of LP among parents. Conclusion: Parent's refusal of LP is a common problem among parents in Kuwait. The main reasons are lack of knowledge and the misconception that this is a harmful procedure. There is a great need to educate parents about the safety of LP in children.