Preconception care: what do reproductive-aged women know and think in a community? A community-based, cross-sectional study at Mizan Aman town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Objectives To assess factors associated with knowledge and attitudes towards preconception care among reproductive-aged women in Mizan Aman town, southwest, Ethiopia.Design and methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 November to 25 November 2021. The data were entered into Epidata V.3.1 and exported to SPSS V.26. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with outcome variables.Setting and participants The study was conducted in Mizan Aman town, Southwest, Ethiopia. A total of 422 reproductive-aged women were enrolled in the study.Outcome Knowledge and attitude towards preconception care, associated factors of preconception care.Results 168 (39.8%) study subjects had good knowledge about preconception care, and 52.4% of the study subjects had a favourable attitude. Knowledge of preconception care was significantly associated with educational status (adjusted OR, AOR=6, p=0.01), marital status (AOR=1.47, p=0.001) and a positive attitude (AOR=1.8, p=0.08). Preconception care attitude was strongly associated with the maternal age group of 25–35 years (AOR=5.4, p=0.001), maternal age group of 36–42 years (AOR=3.5, p=0.02), source of income (AOR=5.3, p=0.01) and occupation (AOR=13.9, p=001).Conclusion The study revealed that knowledge about preconception care was significantly lower. Disseminating preconception education and incorporating preconception care into the maternal continuum of care was the most important to boost the knowledge and attitude level of women towards preconception care.