Knowledge and Attitude of Parents toward Pediatric Lumbar Puncture and its Relationship with Demographical Factors in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Lumbar puncture (LP) or spinal tap is a procedure where a sample of the cerebrospinal fluid is extracted utilizing a needle. Despite the fact, LP is safe and has therapeutic and diagnostic value; many parents refuse to give consent for performing the procedure on their children which hinder the process of diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this study is to describe the level of knowledge and attitudes toward LP of parents in AlAhsa and its correlation with various factors like age, ethnicity, level of education, socio-economical state. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated the knowledge and attitude of parents of LP and its correlation with demographical factors in AlAhsa, Saudi Arabia. Data were obtained through an online questionnaire. Basic statistical parameters were calculated including frequency mean and proportions. Independent T-test and ANOVA test were used to test for association. Results: A total of 466 responses have been included in the study, of which it showed that only 12.6% of the participant refused to give consent to LP when needed. Only 8.40% had a high level of knowledge. However, 61.1% of respondents were categorized with high level of attitude. A significant association was observed between knowledge level groups and total attitude scores towards LP, the higher the total knowledge scores, the better the total attitude scores towards LP (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite the lack of knowledge and the misconception of LP, parents' attitude showed high levels of acceptance. Further community education regarding the importance of LP and the safety of procedures is highly recommended.