Tingkat Pengetahuan Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Sumatera Utara Mengenai Penyakit Jantung Reumatik Pada Anak

Abstract

Background: Rheumatic heart disease is a chronic valvular heart disorder caused by infection of the throat with Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus bacteria, occurring acutely or recurrently, preceded by one or more major symptoms of acute rheumatic fever. This disease most commonly affects children aged 5 to 15 years. In Indonesia, the estimated prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in school-aged children within this age group is 0.3–0.8%. In developing countries, social determinants such as living standards, access to primary healthcare, education, the availability of cardiology diagnostic tools, and cardiac surgery interventions remain challenging issues. Objective: This study aims to assess the level of knowledge of medical students at the University of North Sumatra regarding rheumatic heart disease in children. Methods: This was a descriptive study using a cross-sectional approach and data were collected using a questionnaire. The study sample consisted of male and female students from the Faculty of Medicine, University of North Sumatra. The sampling technique used was whole sampling, in which the entire population was included as the sample. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software.