PARENTS’ ASSESSMENT OF CONDITIONS OF ULTRASOUND EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN

Aim. Analysis of the results of parents assessment of the conditions of US diagnostics of children. Materials and Methods. Assessment of the conditions for receiving ultrasound examination, based on the results of a questionnaire survey of 424 parents of children who underwent this medical service at the National Medical Research Center of Childrens Health of the Ministry of Health of Russia, is presented. Mathematical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the methods of variation statistics and correlation analysis. Results. 83.5% of parents surveyed were satisfied with the ultrasound diagnostic services provided to their children, 12.3% – were satisfied only partially. According to respondents' opinions, the main reasons for dissatisfaction were insufficient qualification of specialist and low quality of the equipment used. The majority of individuals participating in the survey, considered waiting for ultrasound not long, in 77.6% of cases it was carried out within 1-2 days after the appointment. Ultrasonography in an outpatient clinic and in a hospital was mainly carried out free of charge, as part of compulsory medical insurance – in 86.1 and 87.5% of cases, respectively. Only 14.3% of respondents noted that they had the financial ability to pay for examination of the child from personal funds. It was found that 12.7% of parents had to refuse, for this or that reason, from the proposed ultrasound methods of examination of the child. Conclusion. The vast majority of the parents surveyed were satisfied with the ultrasound diagnostics services provided to their child. The main reasons for refusing from ultrasound were a sharply negative reaction of the child, as well as the opinion about the possible harm of the examination and the expected pain from the procedure.