ABSTRACT
Background: In Malaysia, the rates of mothers practising breastfeeding exclusively among babies at six months of age still do not achieve the Global Nutritional Targets 2025 which is 50%. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of breastfeeding intervention in improving breastfeeding outcomes. Method: A quasi-experimental design was used involving a purposive sample of 96 primigravidas (intervention group (IG) = 48, control group (CG) = 48) recruited at Hospital USM. Data were collected using the Breastfeeding Assessment Questionnaire. Mothers in IG received the current usual care and two hours of an additional education programme on breastfeeding, breastfeeding booklet, notes from the module, and postnatal breastfeeding support in the first week of postpartum. Mothers in CG received the current usual care only. The mothers were assessed on the first and sixth week and then the fourth and sixth month of postpartum. Results: The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the groups on the fourth month postpartum (X2 = 5.671, P = 0.017) in practicing full breastfeeding. The breastfeeding duration rates of the IG were longer than those of the CG. However, the results showed only two follow-up weeks that were significant (week 6, X2 = 5.414, P = 0.020, month 4, X2 = 7.515, P = 0.006). There was a statistically significant difference between IG and CG as determined by one-way ANCOVA on the breastfeeding duration after controlling age and occupation, F (3, 82) = 6.7, P = 0.011. The test revealed that the breastfeeding duration among IG was significantly higher (20.80 ± 6.31) compared to CG (16.98 ± 8.97). Conclusions: Breastfeeding intervention can effectively increase breastfeeding duration and exclusivity outcomes among primiparous mother
ABSTRACT
Aim: To assess the effectiveness of groups counseling for smoking cessation among secondary school students. Methods: This study was conducted among secondary school students in two districts in Selangor Malaysia, during July 2005 until August 2006. Upon screening, 346 students were randomly assigned into intervention group (IG) (n=158) and non intervention group (NIG) (n=188). IG underwent structured group counseling regularly for four months, while no group counseling was given to the NIG but subjected to the regular smoking cessation activities organized by their respective schools. Knowledge and attitude towards smoking and quit rate were measured in both groups before intervention, and at 4, 8, and 12 months after intervention. Results: Revealed that students in IG had signifi cantly higher knowledge scores than those in NIG during follow-up visits (24.29+7.97 vs 23.58+8.44 on the fi rst visit), (29.10+8.52 vs 24.09+8.69 on the second visit) (26.59+8.26 vs 22.08+8.04 on the third visit) and (25.54+8.34 vs 21.26+9.60 on the fourth visit). Attitude scores were not signifi cantly different in both groups. Quit rate at four months after intervention was signifi cantly higher in IG as compared to the NIG (45%; 71/158 vs 32%; 60/188) (P=0.013). Conclusion: Group counseling is very effective in improving the respondents’ knowledge and quite rate, but not their attitudes toward smoking.