Periódico Tchê Química | 2021
INVESTIGATING THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE OF PREGNANT WOMEN ABOUT PERIODONTAL HEALTH AND ORAL HEALTH, AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE FETUS DURING PREGNANCY
Abstract
Background: Periodontal infection leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery, low birth weight, preeclampsia, miscarriage, or early pregnancy loss. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pregnant women about periodontal health and oral health and their effect on the fetus. Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical study on 210 pregnant women in the first and second trimesters referring to health centers in Birjand in 2019. The tool used in this study was a researchermade questionnaire with four parts: women s demographic information, and women s knowledge, attitude, and practice, the validity, and reliability of which were confirmed. After data collection, it was entered into SPSS software version 22 and then analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. The significance level was considered 0.05 in all tests. Results and Discussion: In this study, the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice of pregnant women were 5.6 ±1.92, 55.9 ± 5.1, and 25.9± 3.7, respectively. There was a significant difference between the mean attitude score and mothers age. There was also a significant difference between the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice of women and significant difference in knowledge, attitude, and practice of employee and housewife pregnant women; In terms practice, there were significant differences between pregnant housewives and self-employed women. There was a significant relationship between the mean of these scores and mothers jobs so that the mean scores were higher in employed women than others. Conclusions: The results of our study showed that the average score of knowledge, attitude, and practice of pregnant women in Birjand regarding oral hygiene during pregnancy is not satisfactory and appropriate.