A Survey Study between Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Pregnant Women, Health Promotion Program

Abstract

Background: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease affecting the human immune system; it is caused by a virus that reduces the effectiveness of the immune system of the body to the extent that it is no longer able to fight a simple infection. The health promotion program is an important option in preventing the disease by raising the level of knowledge and information of the individual. Objectives: To determine the level of the pregnant women's knowledge about AIDS as well as to identify the effectiveness of the health promotion program on the knowledge and information of the pregnant women toward the disease and the relationship with some relevant variables. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Babylon/Al-Hashimiya district from September 20, 2020 to December 30, 2020. Data were collected from five health centers at Al-Hashimiya Health Sector (health centers in Al-Madhatiya, Khakan, Al-Qassim, Al-Ghazalli, and Al-Awadil), by using a special questionnaire designed for this purpose. Simple random sampling was used for the study; 300 pregnant women served as the participants attending health centers. Results: Result shows the majority of the pregnant women (123, 41%) were registered at age 25–29 years. With regard to education, 111 (37%) of the participants in the study sample were at secondary level of education, and about 202 (67.3%) of the participants were housewives. Regarding residency, 169 (56.3%) of the women participants were reported to be in urban areas. In addition, an analysis of the results by the “chi-square” test had reported a high significant association (P ≤ 0.01) between pregnant women's knowledge and basic sources of the information and the knowledge during the pretest and posttest period, with some factors related to the effectiveness of the health promotion program being achieved by success in the field of health promotion (15.7%) during two periods. Conclusions: In the present study, knowledge of pregnant women about HIV/AIDS was intermediate at (pretest) period. Whereas, during the (posttest) period, their knowledge was increased to high levels.