Assessment of parental health literacy in children referred to pediatric rheumatology for musculoskeletal pain.

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is a prevalent chronic condition in children, adversely affecting their physical and emotional well-being. Parental health literacy (HL) is essential for managing children's health needs, yet its role in pediatric MSK pain remains largely unexplored. This study aims to assess HL levels of parents of children with MSK pain.

Methods: This longitudinal study included pediatric patients with MSK pain and their parents. Parental HL was evaluated using the Turkish Health Literacy-32, allowing for a thorough assessment of HL levels. Parental HL and healthcare utilization, disease characteristics, and parent demographics were carefully examined.

Results: Among 148 patients referred for MSK pain, 141 met the inclusion criteria, with 70.9% of parents being mothers. Reported symptoms included joint pain (42.6%) and limited movement (22.7%), with a median complaint duration of 5 months. Rheumatic disease was diagnosed in 45.4% of patients, primarily juvenile idiopathic arthritis (41.1%). Overall, parental HL was sufficient, with 31.9% scoring adequate and 24.8% excellent. No significant differences in HL were found between parents of children with or without rheumatic diseases. A negligible negative correlation existed between HL and the number of hospital admissions (ρ = -0.18, p = 0.03).

Conclusion: The study found no significant difference in HL levels between parents of children with and without rheumatological diseases, and health behavior variables showed no association with HL scores. These findings underscore the need for further research to enhance parental HL among families of children with MSK pain and explore its potential impact on health behaviors.