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. 2019 Jan 29:47:12.
doi: 10.1186/s41182-019-0137-x. eCollection 2019.

Women's knowledge on common non-communicable diseases and nutritional need during pregnancy in three townships of Ayeyarwaddy region, Myanmar: a cross-sectional study

Moe Moe Thandar  1 , Junko Kiriya  1 , Akira Shibanuma  1 , Ken Ing Cherng Ong  1 , Khaing Nwe Tin  2 , Hla Hla Win  3 , Masamine Jimba  1
Affiliations

Women's knowledge on common non-communicable diseases and nutritional need during pregnancy in three townships of Ayeyarwaddy region, Myanmar: a cross-sectional study

Moe Moe Thandar et al. Trop Med Health. .

Abstract

Background: Health systems in many countries do not adequately address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during pregnancy, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In Myanmar, most studies on NCDs have investigated risk factors and prevalence of NCDs in the general population. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of common NCDs and nutritional need during pregnancy and to identify the factors associated with such knowledge, in three townships of Ayeyarwaddy region in Myanmar.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women aged between 18 and 49 years. We interviewed 630 pregnant women by using a pretested structured questionnaire. Knowledge questionnaire had five categories: general knowledge in NCDs, hypertension, diabetes, anemia, and nutritional need during pregnancy. Knowledge scores ranged from 0 to 56. We used Bloom's cut-off point to classify the knowledge into three levels: low level as 59% or below (0-33 scores), moderate level as 60-80% (34-49 scores), and high level as 80-100% (50-56 scores). We conducted multiple linear regression analyses to find the association between different exposure variables (behavioral risk factors, pre-existing NCDs in pregnant women, and family history of NCDs) and knowledge on common NCDs and nutritional need during pregnancy adjusted for socioeconomic factors.

Results: Among pregnant women, 64.8% had moderate level of knowledge, 22.7% had low level, and only 12.5% had high level. The mean knowledge scores were 39.6 (standard deviation 10.2). Pregnant women with the following factors were more likely to have higher knowledge: their belonging to the second, middle, and fourth quintiles of wealth index and their family members' status of having some kind of NCDs.

Conclusions: Majority of pregnant women had low to moderate level of knowledge on common NCDs and nutritional need during pregnancy. Wealth and family history of NCDs were significantly associated with their knowledge. Prevention and promotion of NCDs should be integrated in maternal and child health programs and should emphasize for the pregnant women who are in the poorest or richest wealth quintiles and who do not have family history of NCDs.

Keywords: Knowledge; Myanmar; Non-communicable disease; Nutrition; Pregnant women.

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Conflict of interest statement

We obtained the ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee of the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan (Serial number 11498), and the Department of Medical Research, Myanmar (ERC number 001117). We explained to all pregnant women about the purpose of the study and confidentiality of the data. Their participation was voluntary and we obtained written informed consents at the time of data collection.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interest.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of pre-existing NCDs among pregnant women with different wealth quintiles (n = 630)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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