AWARENESS REGARDING LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG GYNECOLOGICAL OUTPATIENTS OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70520/kjms.v19i1.760Keywords:
Awareness, Low Birth Weight, Gynecology, OutpatientsAbstract
Objective: To determine the awareness of factors associated with low birth weight and its associated factors among women of reproductive age attending gynecology OPD at a private tertiary care hospital of Karachi.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2022 to January 2023 at a private tertiary care hospital of Karachi. Married gynecological outparticipants of reproductive years were included in the study with a sample size of 385 through online Openepi online calculator after taking their written informed consent. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 21 whereas inferential analysis was performed by applying binary logistic regression with a significance level of 0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 30.79±6.00 years, 174 (43.5%) of them were multipara whereas 105 (26.3%) of them were primipara. Moreover, 284 (71.0%) study respondents had inadequate awareness regarding low birth weight. Multivariable analysis further revealed that patient education was significantly associated with the awareness level where participants with primary or secondary education had significantly higher odds of having adequate awareness regarding low birth weight than those who were illiterate (AOR=2.52, 95% CI 1.01-6.27, p=0.046 and AOR=6.99, 95% CI 2.94-16.63, p<0.001 respectively).
Conclusion: More than two-thirds of study respondents had inadequate awareness regarding low birth weight. Moreover, education level of mothers was found to have a significant association with their awareness level. It is recommended that specific targeted interventions in the form of media campaigns, public seminars and community meetings are needed to enhance awareness of women of reproductive age in our society regarding the factors affecting low birth weight.
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