CHANGES IN CONCEPTIONS OF MEANING, EFFECTS AND TREATMENT OF AMBLYOPIA- A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEW DATA FROM PARENTS OF AMBLYOPIC CHILDREN

The research reported is an experimental study on the effects of inten sified education of parents of children with amblyopia on their unders tanding of the nature of the defect, its origins and treatment. Parent s in the control group were exposed to the ordinary information provid ed at two departments of paediatric ophthalmology, whereas parents in the experimental group, attending the same clinics, were asked to read a booklet aiming at enhancing their understanding of amblyopia and it s treatment. Experimental as well as control subjects were thereafter interviewed about their understanding of the meaning of amblyopia and amblyopia-related phenomena. Data were generated in single subject, se mi-structured, in-depth interviews which were taped and transcribed in extenso. The interviews were analyzed according to the phenomenograph ic approach: i.e. the outcome is a description of the various concepti ons that emerged in the interviews. In almost all cases the categories of meaning could be hierarchically ordered with regard to the level o f understanding implied. Parallel to the interviews the subjects had a lso filled out a questionnaire assessing general and specific attitude s towards disease and treatment (the Health Belief Model, HEM). The re sults reveal a superior understanding among parents in the experimenta l group. The experimental group had also changed attitudes towards dis ease and treatment in a direction that would favour compliance, more t han could be observed in the control group. The outcome is discussed i n terms of the role of understanding for a compliant behaviour. It is also emphasised that health care personnel would profit from being awa re of the nature of common misconceptions of diseases and their treatm ent, in the sense that they would be better prepared for entering inst ructional dialogues with patients or, as in this case, other persons r esponsible for the management of prescriptions provided. (C) 1998 Publ ished by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.