PRECONCEPTION CARE: AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF PREGNANT WOMEN, TAMALE WEST HOSPITAL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ajhmn.516Keywords:
Preconception, Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, TamaleAbstract
Purpose: The aim was to assess the awareness, attitude, knowledge level and practice of pregnant women on preconception care at the Tamale West Hospital Antenatal clinic in the Northern region of Ghana.
Methodology: This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach. A quota sampling procedure was used to arrive at 200 participants. The starting point was randomly selected and a systematic random sampling method was used to select the study participants. Simple random sampling using the lottery approach was used to select the participants for the study. The target population was women (literate and illiterate) within the age range of 16 and 40 years attending the Tamale West Hospital for antenatal care. The list of all the women who fell within the target population was obtained from the register of the unit. The inclusion criteria were pregnant women who visited the Tamale West Hospital within a month's duration for antenatal care services. A semi-structured questionnaire which had both open-ended and close-ended questions was used to generate the data. Descriptive statistics which involves frequencies and percentages was used to represent both independent and dependent variables of the study. Close-ended responses were inputted using the Microsoft Office Excel 2016. Open-ended responses were compiled in relation to the objectives of the study. Other relevant outcomes were cross-tabulated using SPSS version 21.
Results: Though 20.0% of the pregnant women had positive attitude towards preconception care, only 34.5% were aware of preconception care and 42.5% and 23.5% had poor and high knowledge levels on preconception care respectively. When the age group was cross-tabulated with awareness, the results showed no statistical significance between the two variables (χ2=9.1; p=0.58). However, there was an association between the educational status (Tertiary level) (χ2=49.6; p=0.01) and religious affiliation (Muslim) (χ2=43.3; p=0.01) of the respondents on awareness. Educational status (Tertiary level) (χ2=45.4; p=0.01) and religion (χ2=21.3; p=0.01) were found to influence knowledge statistically. In terms of overall attitude, only Muslim (χ2=4.12; p=0.04) statistically impacted on the study.
Conclusion: Pregnant women who attend Antenatal clinic at Tamale West Hospital tended to have low level of awareness and poor knowledge, they have negative attitude towards preconception care services and seldom practice preconception care. There is the need for health care authorities to intensify awareness and implement preconception care policies.
Recommendation: The present study demonstrated that there was a need to create awareness which can also increase the knowledge and practices of reproductive age women or couples. Hence, there is the need for health authorities to put together comprehensive preconception care policies for health institutions to abide by.
Downloads
References
World Health Organization. (2013). Meeting to develop a global consensus on preconception care to reduce maternal and childhood mortality and morbidity: February 2012 meeting report. Geneva: WHO.
Olowokere, A. E., Komolafe, A., & Owofadeju, C. (2015). Awareness, knowledge and uptake of preconception care among women in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria. Journal of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care, 27(2): 83-92.
Dean, S., Rudan, I., Althabe, F., Girard, A. W., Howson, C., Langer, A., ..., & Venkatraman, C. M. (2013). Setting research priorities for preconception care in low-and middle-income countries: Aiming to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity. PLoS Medicine, 10(9): e1001508.
Gautan, P., & Dhakal, R. (2016). Knowledge on preconception care among reproductive age women. Saudi J Med Pharm Sci, 2(1): 6.
Mason, E., Chandra-Mouli, V., Baltag, V., Christiansen, C., Lassi, Z. S., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2014). Preconception care: Advancing from "˜important to do and can be done to is being done and is making a difference'. Reproductive Health, 11(3): S8.
Williams, J. L., Abelman, S. M., Fassett, E. M., Stone, C. E., Petrini, J. R., Damus, K., & Mulinare, J. (2006). Health care provider knowledge and practices regarding folic acid, United States, 2002-2003. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 10(1): 67-72.
Giri, K., & Gautam, S. (2018). Knowledge on preconception care among reproductive aged women in Kaski District, Nepal. Janapriya Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 7(1): 46-56.
Ayalew, Y., Mulat, A., Dile, M., & Simegn, A. (2017). Women's knowledge and associated factors in preconception care in Adet, West Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study. Reproductive Health, 14(1), 15.
Ahmed, K. M., Elbashir, I. M. H., Mohamed, S., Saeed, A. K. M., & Alawad, A. A. M. (2015). Knowledge, attitude and practice of preconception care among Sudanese women in reproductive age about rheumatic heart disease at Alshaab and Ahmad Gassim hospitals 2014-2015 in Sudan. Basic Res. J. Med. Clin. Sci., 4(7): 5.
Mitchell, E. W., Levis, D. M., & Prue, C. E. (2012). Preconception health: Awareness, planning, and communication among a sample of US men and women. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(1): 31-39.
Delgado, C. E. (2008). Undergraduate student awareness of issues related to preconception health and pregnancy. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 12(6): 774-782.
Coonrod, D. V., Bruce, N. C., Malcolm, T. D., Drachman, D., & Frey, K. A. (2009). Knowledge and attitudes regarding preconception care in a predominantly low-income Mexican-American population. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 200(6): 686-e1.
Wilton, D. C., & Foureur, M. J. (2010). A survey of folic acid use in primigravid women. Women and Birth, 23(2): 67-73. Retrieved 6th August, 2019 from https://scholar.google.com/scholar.
Nepali, G., & Sapkota, S. D. (2017). Knowledge and practice regarding preconception care among antenatal mothers. International Journal of Perceptions in Public Health, 1(4): 224-227.
Crusenberry, K. J. (2016). An online study of undergraduates' knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of preconception care.
Krishnan, G. G., Joseph, J., & Maheswari, B. (2016). Effect of structured West program on knowledge and attitude regarding preconception care among adolescent girls. IJAR, 2(4): 435-439.
Bayrami, R., Ebrahimipour, H., Ebrahimi, M., Forootani, M., & Najafzadeh, B. (2013). Health care providers' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding pre-conception care. Journal of Research and Health, 3(4): 519-526.
Klein, J., Boyle, J. A., Kirkham, R., Connors, C., Whitbread, C., Oats, J., ..., & Shaw, J. (2017). Preconception care for women with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A mixed-methods study of provider knowledge and practice. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 129: 105-115.
van Voorst, S., Plasschaert, S., de Jong-Potjer, L., Steegers, E., & DenktaÅŸ, S. (2016). Current practice of preconception care by primary caregivers in the Netherlands. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 21(3): 251-258.
Sattarzadeh, N., Farshbaf-Khalili, A., & Khari, E. (2017). Socio-demographic predictors of midwives' knowledge and practice regarding preconception care. International Journal of Women's Health and Reproduction Sciences, 5(3): 212-217.
Temel, S., van Voorst, S. F., Jack, B. W., DenktaÅŸ, S., & Steegers, E. A. (2013). Evidence-based preconceptional lifestyle interventions. Epidemiologic reviews, 36(1): 19-30.
Ezegwui, H. U., Dim, C., Dim, N., & Ikeme, A. C. (2008). Preconception care in South Eastern Nigeria. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 28(8): 765-768.
Frey, K. A., & Files, J. A. (2006). Preconception healthcare: what women know and believe. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 10(1), 73-77.
Fadia, M., Azza Refaat, T., & Emam, E. (2012). Awareness of primary health care providers in Elminia Governorate about preconception care, Egipt. El-Minia Medical Bulletin, 23(1): 14.
Phipps, E. (2016). Using school nurses to deliver preconception health education: A call to action. British Journal of School Nursing, 11(5): 243-245.
Abu-Hammad, T., Dreiher, J., Vardy, D. A., & Cohen, A. D. (2008). Physicians' knowledge and attitudes regarding periconceptional folic acid supplementation: A survey in Southern Israel. Medical Science Monitor, 14(5), CR262-CR267.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 AKWASI BOAKYE-YIADOM, ESTHER SAGRU-LARR, EMELIA ODURO, OBED KWAKU DUAH ASUMADU, JOEL AFRAM SAAH, RICHARD OPOKU ASARE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
