Determining The Knowledge Level of Parents Related to Circumcision

INTRODUCTION: Aim: This study was conducted to determine the knowledge level and opinions of parents about circumcision.
METHODS: The descriptive style study was conducted with 258 individuals that were the parents of male patients being treated in the pediatric surgery department of a university hospital. The data of the study were collected through a questionnaire, that was designed in line with the literature, through a face-to-face interviewing method. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics with the SPSS 21.0 package program for Windows.
RESULTS: A total of 84.9% of the parents were the mothers of the children. A total of 70.2% of the parents stated that they had their children circumcised by a physician in a hospital setting. Regarding the purpose of circumcision, a total of 27.5% of the parents stated medical and emergency requirements while 25.6% of them of the cultural factors. A total of 23.3% of the parents stated that their children did not want to be circumcised while 57.4% of them stated that they made the circumcision decision together with their spouse. A total of 54.3% of the parents mentioned that their children experienced pain after circumcision. It was detected that parents had a moderate level of knowledge in regard to the benefits of circumcision however most of them had no idea about the practices of circumcision.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Parents emphasized the cultural and medical factors as the most effective factors for the decision of getting their children circumcised. Parents have a lack of knowledge of circumcision practice, benefits of it, and post-circumcision care. Training that is aimed to increase the knowledge of parents about circumcision should be planned. Qualitative and quantitative studies on the subject may be recommended to be conducted in different regions and with large populations