Listeria education in pregnancy: lost opportunity for health professionals

Abstract

Objective: To explore the level of Listeria awareness among pregnant women attending antenatal services and to gain a better understanding of women's knowledge of Listeria risk and factors that affect their practice in this regard. Method: This was a cross‐sectional study carried out from April to November 2006 using a convenience sample of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics/classes in one private and two major public hospitals in South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Services, New South Wales. Women were asked to participate by completing a self‐administered questionnaire based on the standard food safety recommendations for pregnant women to avoid Listeria infection. The association between different socio‐demographic variables and Listeria knowledge, and related food practices, were investigated using bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Nearly half of the 586 respondents had received some kind of information on Listeria prevention. The main channel for obtaining information was social environment. More than 57% had an incomplete knowledge of foods with high Listeria risk, and approximately 25% continued the consumption of these foods with a relatively high frequency. A strong association was found between women's knowledge and their practice. Lower education and household income, unplanned pregnancy and non‐English‐speaking background were associated with incomplete knowledge and more frequent consumption of at‐risk foods. Conclusion and Implications: The provision of advice on Listeria prevention appears to be insufficient during prenatal consultations early in pregnancy and needs to be improved as an essential component of these services.

Awareness of listeriosis among Portuguese pregnant women

“…This had been provided primarily by doctors, nurses, magazines and/or childcare books, and via the Internet (Table 2). Similar sources of information had been reported in previous studies although at different levels of relevance (Bondarianzadeh et al, 2007;Jev snika et al, 2008;Taylor et al, 2012). Views of the respondents were sought to ascertain whether the amount of information received was associated with the type of health assistance (national public health system or private).…”

“…As previously reported in other studies (Athearn et al, 2004;Bondarianzadeh et al, 2007;Cates et al, 2004;Taylor et al, 2012) the doctors and other health care providers were clearly those whom the respondents acknowledged as competent to give this type of information (Table 2). Correspondingly, health professionals also agree that it is their responsibility to provide information on food safety (Morales et al, 2004;Medeiros, Gang, Hillers, & Kendall, 2008;Ross et al, 2009;Wong et al, 2004).…”

“…Identifying the sources of information in which the pregnant women trust is very important; a change of attitude can only be achieved if there is confidence in this source of information. Health professionals had been referred systematically in most of the similar studies as a trusted source of information (Bondarianzadeh et al, 2007;Cates et al, 2004;Lenhart, Kendall, Schroeder, & Sofos, 2007;Pereboom et al, 2013;Taylor et al, 2012). Lack of knowledge about risk factors for listeriosis and the perception that listeriosis was rare and not an important concern for pregnant women, however, have been common reasons given by health professionals for not counselling pregnant women about listeriosis (Kirkham & Berkowitz, 2010;Medeiros et al, 2008;Taylor, Bitzikos, & Galanis, 2008).…”

“…In fact, previous studies demonstrated that pregnant women were unfamiliar with listeriosis (Cates, Carter-Young, Conley, & O'Brien, 2004;Ogunmodede et al, 2005;Pereboom, Manni€ en, Spelten, Schellevis, & Hutton, 2013;Taylor et al, 2012) and few received information about food safety from their health care providers while pregnant (Bondarianzadeh, Yeatman, & Condon-Paoloni, 2007;Cates et al, 2004;Jev snika, Hoyerb, & Rasporc, 2008). Although the reasons from this unawareness may be different for different populations, previous works refer the lack of written information targeted for pregnant women (Athearn et al, 2004;Scheule, 2004), lower education and household income (Bondarianzadeh et al, 2007) and health care providers not talking about food safety in general and risks of listeriosis during pregnancy in particular with their clients (Morales, Kendall, Medeiros, Hillers, & Schroeder, 2004;Kirkham & Berkowitz, 2010;Smith & MacLaurin, 2011;Taylor et al, 2012). Awareness of listeriosis among Portuguese pregnant women has not been investigated before and there are no official materials for education of higher risk groups and their health care providers about listeriosis prevention.…”

Safe Use of Drugs During Pregnancy in Focus of International Practice of Pharmacovigilance System and Teratological Information Service Organization

“…Следует также отметить проблему информированности пациента, что влияет на его взаи-модействие с врачом при назначении ЛС. В настоящее время в большинстве случаев источниками информации для беременных о фетальном риске воздействия ЛС остаются врач, фармацевт, акушерка, друзья/семья, книги и журналы, Интернет [4,5]. Вместе с тем для оценки перинатального риска и безопасности боль-шинства ЛС, предлагаемых женщинам репродуктивного возраста, как правило, нет данных об использовании этих ЛС у человека.…”