THE INFLUENCE OF CARE TIME ON THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE OF CAREGIVERS FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Aim
To study the influence on the level of knowledge of caregivers for people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Material and methods
The study was conducted by applying the method of diagnostic survey-the author’s questionnaire as a research tool. The participation in the study was completely voluntary and fully anonymous. The research group consisted of seventy-six people caring for their relatives who suffer from multiple sclerosis. Inclusion criteriain the research for potential participants were to be a caregiver for a minimum of 5 years. Studies were performed at the turn of 2015 and 2016 at the Subcarpathian Regional Hospital of John Paul II in Krosno at the Department of Neurology with subdivision of cerebral strokes. The results of analysis were presented using descriptive statistics as numbers and percentages. Qualitatives variables were compared with the χ2 test assuming the significance level of p<0,05.

Results
The statistical analysis has shown that the highest level of knowledge about the most popular symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be identified with caregivers dedicated to multiple sclerosis sufferers for the period of 5-10 years (36.4%). The highest per cent of people under investigation in this group (68.2%) has declared that MRI is the key diagnostic examination in multiple sclerosis identification. 59.1% of respondents have also indicated the knowledge concerning age when the disease is most frequently recognized.

Conclusions
Caregivers with the shortest care time have the greatest knowledge about the most popular causes of multiple sclerosis. Care time doesn`t have great influence on the level of knowledge about the first symptoms of the disease.