Asthma knowledge level of child daycare center teachers' in Istanbul, Turkey

Aim. Teachers are primarily responsible for supervising schoolchildren with asthma during school hours. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the level of knowledge of child daycare center teachers about asthma and factors affecting their knowledge. Methods. This study was performed on 297 teachers from 20 randomly selected child daycare centers in Istanbul. The teachers' level of knowledge about asthma was assessed by a questionnaire with 32 questions about asthma. The teachers were asked thirteen additional questions about demographic data and other characteristics of the child daycare centers and about themselves. One-way ANOVA and the independent samples t-test were used to determine differences in the level of asthma knowledge. Results. A total of 297 teachers (287 females/10 males) filled in the questionnaire. The mean age of the teachers was 26.4 +/- 8.1 years (range, 20-53 year). The teachers' "response score rate for each question" ranged from 38% to 94%. The teachers' "completely true response rate for each question" was lower and ranged from 1.6% to 83.9%. "The mean of asthma knowledge score" for the 32 questions was 113.64 +/- 20.26 (71%+/- 12.7%) from a maximum of 160 marks. "Asthma knowledge score for all questions" was related to teachers' gender, age, location and property of child daycare center and number of children in child daycare center. Conclusion. Although teachers of child daycare centers have some knowledge about asthma, their "completely true response rate for each question" was insufficient. Much more efficient educational programs are needed for these teachers.