İstanbul Medical Journal (Jan 2020)
Awareness of Pregnant Women About Routine Applied Screening Tests and Supportive Treatments in a University Hospital
Abstract
Introduction:In this study, we aimed to evaluate the awareness of pregnant women about routine applied screening tests and supportive treatments in a university hospital and the factors affecting this.Methods:This observational, descriptive study was carried out between 15th April and 30th November 2018. Four hundred and ninety-three volunteer pregnant women who applied to the Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Faculty of Medicine outpatient clinic for the first time or were being followed up formed the study cohort. In order to determine sociodemographic characteristics, awareness of screening tests, and supportive therapies, and the factors affecting this, a questionnaire consisting of 36 multiple-choice, open-ended questions was applied through face-to-face interviews.Results:The median age of the participants was 27. More than half (57.4%) were graduated from primary school or did not receive education, and 89.0% were unemployed. The majority of the participants stated that they knew screening tests (92.1%) and supportive treatments (93.9%). Forty-eight point one percent and 44.0% of screening tests and supportive treatments were learned from obstetricians, respectively. The reason stated by 57.6% of the participants who did not want to have screening tests was, “I find it unnecessary because I do not want to end my pregnancy”. Participants who were 27 years old or older (p=0.021), who were at least high school graduates (p=0.016), who were employed (p=0.041), and who had given birth before (p<0.001) knew the screening tests more significantly.Conclusion:The study results showed that the awareness of pregnant women about screening tests and supportive treatments increased with increasing maternal age, education level, employment status, and the number of births. Although the percentage of getting information from healthcare workers about screening tests and supportive treatments was higher, it was still not at the desired level. Therefore, we believe that healthcare workers should be more sensitive to informing and counseling during prenatal care, especially for young and loweducated mothers living in rural areas.
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