Knowledge, attitudes and practice of premarital, preconceptional blood tests and thalassemia among pregnant women and their spouses during the first prenatal visit

Abstract

The Objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of premarital, preconceptional blood tests and thalassemia of pregnant women and their spouses who came for the first prenatal visit at Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center. Pre-test and post-test questionnaires were administered to the subjects (including pregnant women and their spouses who came for the first prenatal visit between 1^st October 2009 and 31^st January 2010) after viewing the informative video of the prevention and control of Thalassemia. The results showed that of the 300 participants (200 pregnant women and 100 husbands), the differences between the pre- and post-test scores were statistically significant (p<0.01). Seventy three percent of the participants showed an improvement in their scores. Regarding their evaluation of the information presented in the video, virtually all of the participants rated the details, difficulty level, visual presentation and length of the video as good and very good. Although 96.3 percent of participants claimed to recognize the benefits of premarital/preconceptional blood tests, only 39.7 percent had premarital/ preconceptional blood tests and 34.3 percent used to advice their relatives/friends to undergo such a medical procedure. Finally, post-test questionnaires revealed that 85.0 percent decided to have their blood screened for thalassemia, and 93.3 percent would advice their relatives/ friends to take premarital/preconceptional blood tests. Taken together, these data suggest that the informative video can increase the level of the knowledge of prevention and control of thalassemia.