IMPACT OF AN EDUCATIONAL MANUAL ON KNOWLE DGE AND ATTITUDES OF RHEUMATIC PATIENTS AND HEALTH-CARE WORKERS

Background: Education may induce voluntary behavioral changes in patie nts that lead to an improvement in health status. Aim: To assess the i mpact of the educational manual ''Aches and Pain'' on knowledge and at titudes of patients with chronic rheumatism and paramedics, using an i nstrument with 40 asseverations extracted from the manual. Patients an d Methods: Seventy seven patients and 42 paramedics were studied. The assessment instrument was responded before and after reading chapters of the manual, selected by the authors. Knowledge was quantified accor ding to the lumber of correct answers. Adaptation to disease, optimism and self help capacity were the evaluated attitudes, using a five poi nt scale. Results: The study was completed by 48 patients and 42 param edics. Knowledge improved from 19,9 +/- 5,3 to 25,6 +/- 6,15 correct a nswers in the former and from 23,6 +/- 4,9 to 30,3 +/- 5,5 in the latt er (p<0.001). In patients there were improvements in the degree of ada ptation to disease from 3,6 +/- 0,9 to 4,0 +/- 0,8 and in selfhelp cap acity from 4,0 +/- 0,8 to 4,3 +/- 0,8; optimism did not improve signif icantly. Conclusions: The educational manual had an impact on knowledg e and improved rheumatic patient's attitudes towards the disease.