Knowledge of pre-eclampsia in women living in Makole Ward, Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder specific to pregnancy responsible for significant maternal morbidity and mortality in Africa. The majority of deaths related to pre-eclampsia could be avoided with timely and effective care. "Phase one delays" arise because of lack of knowledge. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge levels of women living in Makole ward, comparing respondent subgroups with different demographic characteristics. It also aimed to compare knowledge levels in respect to six subtopics of pre-eclampsia. This was to allow for planning of appropriate activities to reduce delays in seeking health care. Methods: This study surveyed 200 adult women randomly identified in the community. They were asked 36 questions on preeclampsia requiring yes / no answers. The data was analysed quantitatively. Results: Overall knowledge levels were low with an average of 41% of correct answers. Minor differences in the knowledge levels of demographic subgroups were found. Statistically significant differences were identified between sub-topics of preeclampsia; signs and symptoms were the least well known. Conclusion: Educational systems (formal and informal) are failing to provide communities with potentially life-saving information. Health centre, community and school based education programmes are recommended.

Knowledge and Myths about Preeclampsia and Eclampsia and its influence on Antenatal Service Utilization among Expecting Couples in Mtwara Regional: A Cross Sectional Analytical Study.

“…The results of the current study showed that 62.1% had inadequate knowledge about preeclampsia and eclampsia. The results of this study differ with the ndings of previous work done in Makole Dodoma [ 12 ]which revealed that 41% of the respondents had low knowledge. This difference might be due to the geographical location where study was conducted as the current study conducted in Rural while the previous conducted in Urban, also it could be due to the differences in study population as the current study dealt with expecting couples both pregnant women and their male partners while the previous study focused mainly on pregnant women.…”

“…Knowledge on preeclampsia and eclampsia was measured by nominal scale involved 38 items on knowledge with yes/no answers which were then converted into correct and incorrect. Then one score for each correct answer and zero score for each wrong answer(Savage & Hoho, 2016). Principal component analysis was done to analyze knowledge.…”

Knowledge of preeclampsia and its associated factors among pregnant women.: a possible link to reduce related adverse outcomes

“…In Malaysia, a study by Teng and Keng found only 18.4% of women to have adequate knowledge of PE [27]. Other studies by Savage and Hoho [25] and Eze et al [26] reported that 59% and 60% of Tanzanian women had inadequate knowledge of PE, respectively. Evidence indicates that adequate understanding of a disorder contributes to its prevention, control and management because patients' knowledge regarding a disease positively influenced patient compliance to treatment and help abate complications associated with the disease [22,23].…”

“…Investigator-administered validated well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from all enrolled participants. The questionnaire was designed by reviewing previous studies of similar objectives [6,[24][25][26][27], after which experts consultation was sought to ascertain its validity in public health perspective. Required modifications were made and the questionnaire was administered in the language the participants understand.…”

Knowledge of preeclampsia and its associated factors: a possible link to reduce related adverse outcomes among pregnant women.

“…For this to be achieved, there is the need to assess the baseline knowledge of PE, especially among high risk group such as pregnant women. Previous studies in the US [24] and a few countries in Africa [25][26][27] indicate that the knowledge of PE among women is generally low. However, there is currently no study that evaluates the knowledge of PE in Ghana.…”