Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices of expectant mothers in relation to antenatal care in Assiut governorate

This study aims to assess knowledge, attitudes and practice. of expectant mothers in relation to ante-natal care in Assiut and to find out factors affecting their knowledge. Attitudes and practices. The present study was carried out in the ante-natal clinic at Assiut General Hospital and three Maternal and Child Health Centers in Assiut. Fifty women were selected from each of the previously mentioned settings. A specially designed interview sheet was used to collect the necessary data. It was consisted of four parts. The first part included questions related to individual features of women, the second part included questions related to their family features, the third part concerned with previous obstetrical history of women and their acceptance of pregnancy and the fourth part included questions related to knowledge attitudes and practices of expectant mother in relation to ante-natal care. Th. findings of the present study revealed that one quarter of the study sample [25.5%] lacked basic and essential knowledge about ante-natal care, most of older women [88.2%] were more likely to have poor knowledge in relation to ante-natal care, the higher educated women [66.7%] were more likely to have good knowledge about ante-natal care compared to 33.5% of lower educated women. It was also observed that the majority of working women [90%] were more likely to have good ante-natal care knowledge compared to housewives [10%]. Most of the primigravida women [88.2%] were more likely to have poor knowledge in relation to ante-natal care compared to 11.8% of women whose gravidity was less than 5

Satisfaction of mothers by nursing care provided to their sick children in ambulatory health care centers

The aim of the study was to measure satisfaction of mothers attending health units with their ambulatory children. A random sample of 150 mothers was included in the study from 3 ambulatory care units in Ismailia. The indirect method of measuring satisfaction was used through identification of mothers pre-visit expectations and measuring the post visit fulfilment by technical quality of nursing care. The percentage of expectation fulfilment reflected the degree of satisfaction. The mother's responses were validated by observers opinion to the same service provided. The results of the study revealed that respondent scores indicated a weak satisfaction with most of nursing care services such as taking temperature, weighing the child and carrying physicians orders. The results also revealed that aspects related to nurse's advice and guidance to mothers regarding child's condition, elicited high level of unsatisfaction

Knowledge and attitudes towards premarital counseling and examination

Premarital counselling and examination have begun to play a very important role in the management of many genetic disorders. 600 villager's knowledge and attitudes toward premarital counselling and examination in Menofia Governorate was studied in order to predict the community acceptance and behaviour toward utilization of such service. The result showed a big lack in knowledge even among educated respondents about the term. The main source of information was mass media followed by medical personnels who should participate more in this service. Most respondents, except unmarried males, have a favourable attitude toward either premarital counselling and examination or consanguanous marriage. This may be related to certain social changes in village life such as declining illiteracy, increased economic pressures, increase number of nuclear families and accordingly delay in beginning a family. It was unlikely that non-contraceptive users would resort to induced abortion rather to use contraceptive methods. Educational programs should be directed toward: [a] unmarried males so that their attitude toward premarital counselling and examination can be changed to correct direction, [b] unmarried females to make consanganous marriage more undesirable, and [c] non-contraceptive users to make them more intended to use safe contraceptive methods than induced abortion

Some self care aspects of patients undergoing long term hemodialysis

The aim of this study was to determine some aspects of self care of patients undergoing long term hemodialysis. The sample of the study included 102 patients scheduled for long term hemodialysis at three dialysis units in Alex. The results revealed that most patients knowledge did not receive proper instructions concerning self care. most patients had inadequate knowledge and poor practices regarding the essential components of self care

Dietary pattern of patients undergoing long term haemodialysis

The dietary management is a vital part for all patients under going long term hemodialysis. To study the dietary pattern of patients under going long term hemodialysis, a scheduled personal interview was designed to collect the required data from 102 adult patients distributed at three dialysis units attached to three hospitals in Alex.. The results indicate that most of the patients did not restrict neither their fluid intake, nor the sodium and potassium intake in their diets. It was also revealed that a large number of the patients were not aware of the relation between fluid retention and the rise of blood pressure. The majority of illiterate patients did not consume enough proteins of high biological values

Evaluation of the impact of the vaccination schedule TV spot on the audience of Aswan governorate

This study examines the effectiveness of the vaccination schedule T.V. spot on the community's attitude towards vaccination in the Aswan governorate. The T.V. spot was aimed in February and the survey was conducted in March. House to house survey covering Aswan, Nasr, Kom Ombo and Edfo districts with a total of 1515 individuals, majority women, was done. The study showed clearly that the T.V. spots were highly effective in increasing the knowledge and educating people about immunization and motivating mothers to vaccinate their children. The study identified the problems present in the 4 districts which impeded viewing of the message and thereby affected coverage in such areas. It was clear that illiteracy, big sized families, women's workload had a negative effect on both the viewing and understanding of the message and consequently on coverage. Inspite of the differences present in the community characteristics, television as a media in development of communication has proved successful in cutting back the effects of such problems on coverage. Judging from such successes, communication has a great potential for being an important part of programmes aimed at improving health status of the population in general and of children in particular

Impact of health care of lactating mothers on: their health, adequacy of lactation, and the health status of their infants Part [1] Effect of health care of mothers on the health of their infants

This work aimed at providing a comprehensive postnatal care to lactating mothers in Abbis [2] village for a period of 6 months and evaluating the impact of this care on their health and the health status of their infants. This was done through a longitudinal study on 2 purposive samples each including 50 breast-feeding mothers. A comprehensive postnatal care [nutritional,medical, educational and dental care] was provided to the experimental group while the mothers of the control group were given the ordinary care of the rural health center. The results showed that during the post-neonatal period infants of the experimental group showed lower incidence of all diseases than infants of the control group. More than 80% of infants of the experimental group received the primary doses of vaccination due for their ages corresponding to 38% only of infants of the control group. Growth and development of experimental group was better than that of the control group but the difference was not statistically significant

Maternal beliefs and practices in feeding infants and young children during sickness Part II: Beliefs and practices during diarrhea and vomiting

Proper feeding is an important element in the manipulation of the diarrheal child. This study was done to assess the maternal practices and beliefs in feeding infants and young children during diarrhea and vomiting, in both rural and urban communities. The study revealed that maternal practices and beliefs causing them differed significantly in the rural and urban sectors. However, the feeding pattern was generally good both in rural and different socioeconomic level urban sectors. This relatively unexpected good level of maternal practice noticed in rural and low socioeconomic level urban mothers could be attributed to the distinguished role played by health personnel in MCH Centers

Factors affecting pregnancy outcome in home and hospital deliveries

The work was conducted to study the factors related to the pattern of ante-natal, natal and post-natal care as related to home and hospital deliveries as well as the complication in the two groups. The sample in the home group was composed of 100 mothers. It was obtained by revising the records in an MCH centre and a health unit to obtain names and addresses. Sample in the hospital was taken from recorded deliveries in Kasr El- Aini maternity hospital [100]. An interviewing schedule was used for data collection to cover socio-economic, biological characteristics, pattern of ante-natal and post-natal care and risk groups. Data related to complication during natal and post- natal period was also collected. The following results were obtained from the study: 1- Hospital group had significantly better education [mother and husband], housing condition than the home group. 2- Quality of ante-natal care was better in hospital than the home group. 3- The quality of postnatal care was better in the hospital than the home. The following would be recommended: 1- Training of nursing and midwifery personnel in identification of risk factors. 2- Training of TBAs about safe maternity and midwifery practice and their close supervision. 3- Preparation of standing orders for all aspects of maternity

Traditional methods used by mothers for managing their children with skin disorders

The study revealed that both rural and urban mothers lacked knowledge about the causation of disease. Most of rural and urban mothers tended to use one or more of the traditional practices in managing their children with burn, sweat rash and paronychia or boils. Some of these practices may have bacteriostatic, emollient or dehydrant actions. Mother in law and health healers had a significant role among rural mothers, while relatives and neighbors had this responsibility among urban ones. The findings suggested that a traditional health care system should be integrated in the national health care system. Mass media and comprehensive health teaching programs should be conducted for mothers and grand mothers. Research in traditional medicine should be encouraged. Finally, nurses should be qualified professionally to be capable of providing care to people from different socio-cultural backgrounds

Evaluation of intra-muscular injection using the critical incident technique

The critical incident technique is a survey of how well certain job tasks are performed. it is carried out by collecting effective and ineffective behaviors observed in actual practice of a specific activity or procedure. The technique can be used in appraisal of performance of nurses and nursing student. It can serve as the basis to plan training programs to upgrade competent performance. The aim of this study was to analyze tasks in giving I.M. Injection [a basis nursing procedure] to reveal ineffective and effective performance as well as to compare the use of the critical incident technique with the observation method in performance analysis. The study was conducted in the OPD of Ismailia Hospitals. A total of 989 critical incidents were collected. They were grouped into 4 major groups. Of these 36.0% were in the area of preparation, 14.3% were in the area of meeting patient's needs, 35.1% in the area of skills in implementation and 14.6% were in management of complications. An observation of 900 I.M. injections was made using a specially prepared check list. The over all performance was poor [98.9%]. Only 1.1% was average but none was good. The least performance was in the phases of pre-injection and post- injection [98.2%]. While the best was in the injection phase [69.8%]. The study revealed that the use of the critical incident technique was economical in time and effort. It was able to identify areas of performance which was difficult to obtain by observation. It is recommended that this technique is to be used to cover all nursing procedures especially the routine ones. Also, to minimize the gap between what ought and what is actually done. It is also advised in the training of nurses and nursing students to emphasize effective and ineffective incidents related to various areas in the nursing procedures

Maternal beliefs and practices in feeding infants and young children during sickness: part I, beliefs and practices during fevers

Proper feeding is recognized as an important element in the management of the sick child. This study was done to assess the maternal practices and beliefs in feeding infants and young children during infections, in both rural and urban communities. It was conducted on "2000" mothers representing the rural and the three different socioeconomical levels of the urban sector. The study revealed that maternal practices and beliefs in feeding children during infections [fevers and measles] differed significantly in the rural and urban sectors. The majority of urban mothers, especially those with high socioeconomic levels, followed the sound practices and were holding the correct beliefs. However, malpractices were prevalent among rural and low SEL urban mothers, where a minority of them kept their children on watery gruels low in protein for prolonged periods, especially so in measles

Causes of stress among hospital nursing staff

The aim of the study was to determine the causes of stress among hospital nursing staff. The present study showed that hospital nurses in different hospitals in Alexandria can be considered potentially stressed persons. Rules and regulations in all hospitals were the main stressors for most of nurses. They were not happy with their payment. About 50% of them complained of inability to get non paid leaves. They expressed unsatisfactory feeling being prevented from enjoying other benefits like availability of medical care, availability of uniform free of charge and special transportation. Also unfavorable working environmental conditions such as lack of equipments, delay or even the non repairing of the damaged equipments and instruments. They also complained of socio-economic stressors

Body indices and abo blood groups distribution among college students in Bahrain

In this study, a survey of the occurrence of the ABO blood groups and Rh factor in Bahrain has revealed differences between frequencies of these blood groups among Bahrainis and other population. The highest frequency was found to be in group 0, this was followed by groups B, A and AB respectively. 94.17% of the persons studied were positive for Rh factor, while 5.83% were Rh negative. It can be suggested that the students of blood group AB were of ectomorphic body type, while those of blood group AB were of endomorphic body type, and the common somatotype between the total students was the mesomorphic body type

Evaluation of DPH program offered by High Institute of Public Health through student's opinion

This study was carried out with the aim of determining students opinion regarding the extent to which the first term curriculum of the DPH program was beneficial to them regarding certain areas. The opinionnaire used was designed with the help of medical education experts at the CED, University of Illinois, Chicago. Results revealed that the courses offered were rated of moderate benefit regarding their value in introducing students to the various disciplines of public health and in preparing them to become members of the P.H. team. The courses were rated minimally beneficial in preparing students for their future jobs. Comments and recommendations offered by students helped to clarify the reasons why ratings were not as high as should be desired. The main reasons referred to the fact that the core course offered too much information in too short a time [77.08% of respondents]. Moreover, students complained that the educational objectives of many courses especially the interdepartmental field work, were never clearly stated to them [56.25%]. They asked that methods of teaching be improved [2.08%] and recommended that all students should be separated from the very start into their specialties [17.7%], since non-medicals find difficulty in understanding lectures [3.12%]. The reasons for the apparent feelings of confusion and loss, lie mainly in the fact that the core course offers a sizeable amount of information to a heterogenous group of attendants who all sit for the same courses. To reach this group and adequately communicate the required knowledge to them, instructors of a special caliber and experience are required. The planning and development of the core course itself should be upgraded following the basic principles of curriculum planning, especially in relation to development of precise, clearly defined educational objectives, both for the program as a whole and for individual courses. This entails maximum cooperation on the part of everyone involved in teaching and development of the curriculum. In fact, most of the teaching staff in the institute have already been exposed to medical education workshops on methods of teaching and curriculum planning. What remains is for them to become adequately convinced to utilize the training they received to the benefit of their students. A situation which might require serious intervention on the side of the institute's administrative body

Dietary factors and physical activity of obese and non-obese adolescent girls

Two groups of High Nursing School Girls, 40 obese, and 34 non-obese controls of matched age, height, grade, and socio-economic status, were compared with regard to dietary intake and physical activity. The anthropometric measurements showed a highly significant mean body weight, body mass index [BMI] and relative body weight. The skinfold thickness of the obese group in the following sites: biceps, triceps, sub scapular, and abdominal were significantly higher than that of non-obese girls. The most clear cut finding in the present study is that the obese group consumed significantly more calories, protein, fat and carbohydrate than their non-obese peers. Also the results showed that the majority of the obese girls categorized as less active compared to the non-obese controls. It appears that overeating and physical inactivity are important factors in the occurrence of obesity among the girls of this community

epidemiology of ABO and Rh blood groups in NAY village

A house to house survey of the A B O and Rh blood groups was performed in "Nay" village in Qualiubia governorate and a pedigree analysis was done for each family. Results revealed that the prevalence of the different blood groups does not follow the Hazdy Weinberg formula. This might be due to different social, psychological and biological factors which interfere with the randomity of mating of human beings. Group O, having the highest prevalence in this study as well as in other communities which have a high risk of infection with microorganisms might suggest its value in adaptation to such an environment through the Anti-A and Anbi-B antibodies in the blood. The absence of these antibodies in the blood of those having A B groups might explain the very low prevalence of that blood group. The role of Rh genotype might differ since more holders of Rh antibodies exist among Europeans, The fact that females were more among blood group O holders besides the high prevalence of group O shown in the present study, might indicate the presence of a sex selecting factor. The female sex which has a better resistance to environmental stresses and pregnancy stresses, is that sex mostly of group O. Foetal blood passing transplacentally to the mother could be fatal to her and it is the group O mothers that are capable of getting rid of it and surviving

relationship between the nutritional state of lactating mothers and that of their infants

The relationship between the nutritional state of 150 apparently healthy lactating mothers and their breast-fed infants was studied. Maternal nutritional state was assessed in terms of height and weight measurement and dietary intake adequacy. Infant nutritional state was assessed in terms of anthropometric measurements. Data showed that the nutritional state of both mothers and their infants was satisfactory. All infant nutritional indices were significantly correlated with maternal dietary adequacy. Infant. body weight, height and head circumference showed stronger correlations than the rest of the measurements. Infant body height was associated more with maternal dietary protein while body weight was more strongly associated with maternal dietary energy, indicating that body height is more a function of proteins and body weight is more a function of energy. From the data presented in this study it can be concluded, that the general nutrition and health of breast-fed infants is strongly influenced by the state of nutrition of their mothers. Accordingly, improvement of the nutritional state of lactating mothers will be accompanied by improvement in health and growth of infants. Extra food for lactating mothers to increase breast milk volume is cheaper than breast milk substitutes for infants