Awareness of students of the Institute of Nursing Education on the issues of rickets and methods of its prevention

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Introduction. Rickets is a disease of infants and young children manifested by impaired bone formation due to insufficient mineralization of bone tissue. The main etiological factor is the deficiency of vitamin D and its metabolites during the period of intensive growth of children in the first years of life.

The topic of rickets is extremely relevant, highlighting the importance of vitamin D in maintaining healthy bones and overall health. Understanding the causes, symptoms and prevention of rickets helps increase public awareness of the importance of vitamin D and the need for adequate nutrition. This is especially true for high-risk groups such as infants, children and people with limited sun exposure or nutritional deficiencies.

The clinical manifestations of rickets are varied and depend on the period, severity and nature of the disease, but damage to the skeletal system is mandatory. The main syndromes identified in rickets: Since the nurse plays a large role in the prevention and treatment of rickets, we decided to conduct a survey among future nurses, students of the Institute of Nursing Education of the Voronezh State Medical University. N.N. Burdenko and study their awareness of the causes, clinical manifestations of rickets and its prevention.

The purpose of the work was to study the results of a survey of students at the Institute of Nursing Education at VSMU named after. N.N. Burdenko on their awareness of rickets and its prevention.

Materials and methods of research. The study was carried out using a survey method with subsequent processing of the received materials. Respondents were asked to anonymously, voluntarily and independently fill out an original questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 10 questions related to the issues, awareness, prevention and diagnosis of rickets. The study involved 45 1st and 2nd year students of the Institute of Nursing Education of VSMU named after. N.N. Burdenko: 34 women (87%) and 6 men (13%), aged from 18 to 25 years. The majority, 79%, were respondents in the age range of 18-20 years.

Materials and methods of research. When asked in the survey whether you have ever heard of rickets, 100% of respondents answered positively. Answers to the question about the causes and risk factors for the occurrence of rickets were distributed as follows: deficiency (17.8%); congenital pathology - 1 person (2.2%); non-compliance with the daily routine and environmental factors were not chosen by any of the respondents.

The respondents' answers to the question about what symptoms of rickets they know were distributed as follows: pain in the joints was noted by 5 respondents (11.1%); sweating, flattening of the back of the head, weakness, loss of appetite, hip dysplasia were noted in 21 people (46.7%); loss of appetite - 4 respondents (8.9%); late teething and closure of fontanelles - 15 people (33.3%); Not a single person chose answers such as fever, upset stool or vomiting.

In your opinion, is the population sufficiently aware of the prevention and treatment of rickets? The respondents' answers to this question were distributed as follows: 35 respondents answered yes (77.8%); no - 8 respondents (17.8%); I don’t know 2 respondents (4.4%).

When answering the question whether your friends or relatives were diagnosed with rickets, 2 people, 4.4%, gave a positive answer and 41 people, 91.2%, answered that they had never encountered rickets and 2 people, 4.4% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.

To the question of the questionnaire, can you, based on your knowledge about rickets, determine its signs in a patient, 36 respondents gave a positive answer, this is 80% of all respondents and 9 respondents answered that they were not sure whether they could recognize rickets, which amounted to 20 % of respondents.

When answering the question what is the main thing in the prevention and treatment of rickets, the answers were distributed as follows: 75.5% of respondents, that is 34 people, think that it is oral intake of vitamin D, another 11.1%, that is 5 people, believe that it is massage and a walk in the fresh air and 6.7% of respondents, 3 people answered that this is the use of immunomodulators and only 3 people, 6.7%, believe that the prevention of rickets must be carried out at the stage of intrauterine development of the child.

When answering the question what measures, in your opinion, can be taken to increase the level of public awareness on rickets issues, respondents gave the following answers: conducting educational conversations with the population - 13 people (29%); videos on TV - 11 people (24.4%); information on the radio - 1 respondents (2.2%); dissemination of information through social networks and the Internet - 20 people (44.4%).

Conclusion. Thus, based on the results of the survey, we can conclude that all the surveyed students of the Institute of Nursing Education of Voronezh State University. N.N. Burdenko, have you heard about such a disease as rickets. At the same time, 2 people even answered that they had encountered this pathology with friends or relatives. Most respondents still know the main signs of rickets and even assume that they can recognize the signs of rickets in a patient. And almost all respondents, more than 80%, know the basic principles of prevention and treatment of rickets.

And also more than 50% of respondents believe that it is most effective to disseminate information about rickets among the population through educational conversations, social networks and the Internet, and using video clips on TV.

About the authors

Love Alekseevna Rybnikova

Voronezh State Medical University named after. N. N. Burdenko

Email: lyuba.rybnikova.04@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0008-2547-1278
SPIN-code: 6336-5178

Student at the Institute of Nursing Education, Voronezh State Medical University. N.N. Burdenko 2nd year, group SD-204

Russian Federation, 394036 Russia, Voronezh, st. Student 10

Irina Alekseevna Poletaeva

Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko

Author for correspondence.
Email: poletaewa80@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3965-1911

Candidate of Medical Sciences

Russian Federation, 394036, Voronezh region, Voronezh, st. Student, d. 10.

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