The educational needs of people with systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study using the Dutch version of the Educational Needs Assessment Tool (D-ENAT)

Vliet Vlieland, Thea P.M.; Meesters, Jorit J.L.; Schouffoer, Anne; Vliet Vlieland, Thea P. M.; Ndosi, Mwidimi E.; Meesters, Jorit J. L.

Abstract

© 2015, The Author(s). The Dutch Educational Needs Assessment Tool (D-ENAT) systematically assesses educational needs of patients with rheumatic diseases. The present study aims to describe the educational needs of Dutch patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The D-ENAT was sent to 155 SSc patients registered at the outpatient clinic of a university hospital. The D-ENAT consists of 39 items in seven domains. “Each domain has different number of items therefore we normalized each domain score: (domain score/maximum)×100) and expressed in percentage to enable comparisons between domains.” A total D-ENAT score (0–156) is calculated by summing all 39 items. In addition, age, disease duration, gender, educational level, present information need (yes/no) and information need (1–4; wanting to know nothing–everything) were recorded. Univariate regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with the D-ENAT scores. The response rate was 103 out of 155 (66%). The mean % of educational needs scores (0–100%; lowest–highest) were 49% for “D-ENAT total score,” 46% for “Managing pain,” 41% for “Movement,” 43% for “Feelings,” 59% for “Disease process,” 44% for “Treatments from health professionals,” 61% for “Self-help measures” and 51% for “Support systems.” No associations between the D-ENAT total score and age, disease duration, gender and educational level were found. The D-ENAT demonstrated its ability to identify educational needs of Dutch SSc patients. SSc patients demonstrated substantial educational needs, especially in the domains: “Disease process” and “Self-help measures.” The validity and practical applicability of the D-ENAT to make an inventory of SSc patients’ educational needs require further investigation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 19, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Aug 31, 2015
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 1, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 1, 2016
• Journal: Rheumatology International
• Print ISSN: 0172-8172
• Electronic ISSN: 1437-160X
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 289-294
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3352-8
• Keywords: systemic sclerosis, patient education, health knowledge, outcomes research, needs assessment, information
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/923056
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3352-8
• Related Public URLs: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4723617/; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00296-015-3352-8
• Contract Date: Jul 1, 2016