ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Pandemics have affected many people's social and emotional lives. Conception planning, contraceptive usage, and pregnancy intentions are activities with minimal research. This study is the first to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced reproductive plans and contraceptive use among women during the pandemic in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2022. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by sending an online questionnaire to married women from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire included demographics, personal obstetrics information, changes in pregnancy intentions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and questions about contraceptive usage. Qualitative data were presented as frequencies, and a χ2 test was performed to determine the relationships among the variables. RESULTS: A total of 639 women enrolled in the study; most participants were 25-34 years old, and most indicated they changed their reproductive intentions during the pandemic (49%). Family planning accounted for 25.8% of participants who changed their reproductive intentions. Only 17.5% changed their choices because of fear of the COVID-19 impact. The percentage of women using contraception was significantly reduced during the lockdown, to 36.8%. Oral contraceptive pills were the most frequently used method during the curfew period (17.5%). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 lockdown affected the reproductive intentions of most women in Jeddah, and it significantly reduced contraceptive use.
ABSTRACT
Background Diabetes is characterized by elevated blood glucose levels due to inadequate insulin production or abnormalities in cellular activity. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most prominent indicators of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which develops in pregnant women whose pancreatic function is insufficient to control the insulin resistance associated with pregnancy. Moreover, it is the most common metabolic disorder, with the majority of cases beginning in the second or third trimester of pregnancy and affecting up to 25% of pregnant women. Objectives The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with postpartum T2DM screening in women with GDM at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) between 2010 and 2022. The secondary objective was to assess the factors associated with providing information to the patients about the risks of increased blood glucose and postpartum lifestyle modification. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study at KAUH to investigate potential factors associated with postpartum screening for T2DM. Out of 564 patients diagnosed with GDM between 2020 and 2022, we included 200 women aged over 18 years with a history of GDM, as they met the inclusion criteria for our study. Patients younger than 18 years with missing or incomplete baseline characteristics were excluded. Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 21 (IBM Corp. Released 2012. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.), and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 200 postpartum women with GDM were included in this study. Their mean age was 35.02±5.2 years. Many of them had a family history of diabetes (83.0%) and a previous diagnosis of GDM (60.5%). The patients who performed glucose testing six weeks after birth were previously diagnosed with GDM (37.0%) or with a family history of diabetes (45.5%). The significant variables in this analysis were mothers having frequent postpartum hospital follow-up visits (P<0.001), mothers with gestational weight gain (P=0.018), those who were informed about the risks of increased blood glucose (P=0.011), and those who were informed about plans for postpartum glucose screening (P=0.002). The mothers with a previous history of GDM were the highest to be informed of the risks of elevated blood glucose. Conclusion Frequent postpartum hospital follow-up visits, gestational weight gain, knowledge of the risks of elevated blood sugar, and postpartum glucose screening plans were all associated with postpartum glucose testing rates among women with GDM in Saudi Arabia.
ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aimed to assess the awareness about gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among married females in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on all women in reproductive age and an electronic questionnaire was used. Data about participants' demographics, parity, BMI, pregnancy, family and personal history of chronic diseases, gestational diabetes were collected. Their knowledge about effect of gestational diabetes on mother and on neonatal outcomes and their source of information about GDM were assessed. Results: The mean age of the participants was 37.99 ± 9.44 years and 77.8% of them had poor knowledge about GDM and 6.1% had good knowledge. Multipara women with a university education had a significantly higher mean knowledge level and the most common source of participants' knowledge about GDM was social media. Conclusion: Females' knowledge about GDM was significantly low in Jeddah. Health education campaigns and mass media education are urgent to increase their awareness about GDM. Health care practitioners should focus on popularizing GDM and raising awareness of its consequences.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chorioamnionitis (CA) is a common pregnancy complication characterized by inflammation of the placental membranes and chorion. To our knowledge, there are limited studies evaluating the awareness of CA and its complications among women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the awareness of married women in Jeddah toward CA and its complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2021 and August 2021. It involved 406 women who were or have been married in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data were obtained via an online survey and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Different statistical tests were used for data analysis, including percentages, mean, frequency, and chi-square. Content validity and reliability were checked. Based on a woman's knowledge score, the score was classified into three levels: good knowledge level (score: 9-12), fair knowledge level (score: 5-8), and poor knowledge level (score: 0-4). RESULTS: Of the total number of women who participated in the study, most of them had a poor knowledge score about CA complications (49.95%), and only 8.1% had good knowledge. Among the women, 25% had previously heard about CA, while only 2.5% were diagnosed with CA, and 50% of these women delivered by cesarean section. Analysis showed a significant relationship between women who had CA and their birth method (p = 0.000). However, there was a nonsignificant difference between the females' knowledge and their age (p = 0.297), or their level of education (p = 0.099). CONCLUSION: The study concluded that there was a poor level of knowledge regarding CA and its complications among women who experienced pregnancy.
