Knowledge, attitude, barriers, and associated factors of obstetric ultrasound among pregnant women in public hospitals, Ethiopia, 2022: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Obstetric ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging modality that uses sound waves to provide a real-time image of the foetus. Women’s knowledge of and attitudes toward ultrasound are suggested to influence their responses, and a variety of barriers also influence their practices. Objectives This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, barriers, and associated factors of obstetric ultrasound among pregnant women in public hospitals in Addis Ababa. Methods and materials An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 pregnant women from July to August 2021 using systematic random sampling. A structured questionnaire was employed, entered into Epi Info 7.2, and analysed in SPSS 23. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors. Result The proportion with good knowledge of obstetric ultrasound was 51.4%, and that with positive attitudes was 70.1%. Women with a degree and above (AOR 2.70; 95% CI 0.21–35.23), government employment (AOR 3.901; 95% CI 1.92–7.90), and previous ultrasound exposure (AOR 1.966; 95% CI 1.24–3.12) were significantly associated with knowledge. Government-employed women (AOR 6.83; 95% CI 2.43–19.18), women with 1000–5000birr in household income (AOR 5.31; 95% CI 2.01–14.03), and women with a history of births with congenital anomalies (AOR 21.07; 95% CI 2.09–21.21) were significantly associated with the attitude toward obstetric ultrasound. Participants in the study expressed a variety of barriers that influenced their practices; long waiting time was the most common (77.3%). Conclusion Pregnant women’s levels of knowledge and attitudes towards obstetric ultrasound were moderately good. However, there were a variety of barriers, including patient privacy, waiting time, handling, and side effects, that influenced the utilisation of ultrasound.

Assessment of knowledge and attitude of pregnant women towards antenatal ultrasound in University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital at antenatal care clinic, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Also, housewives, government employees, and private employees were more likely to had good knowledge than students, merchants, and farmers. This finding was consistent with a study conducted in Ethiopia, which found that government employees were significantly associated with knowledge [21]. Furthermore, this finding was confirmed by a study conducted in Jeddah, where employment was found to be associated with good ultrasonography knowledge as a result of having more opportunities to obtain information and share experiences with others [5,9].…”

“…However, it was much lower than a study done in Jeddah [9,16]. Whereas the magnitude of attitude of this study was lower than studies done in Jeddah and Ethiopia [9,20,21]. The discrepancies in the magnitude of knowledge and attitude of pregnant women towards obstetric ultrasound might be ascribed to differences in the study population, tools used to measure the outcome variables across the studies, and the sample size used.…”