Raeda Al-Qutob

“Voices of Fear and Safety” Women’s ambivalence towards breast cancer and breast health: a qualitative study from Jordan

BackgroundBreast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among Jordanian women. Breast malignancies are detected at late stages as a result of deferred breast health-seeking behaviour. The aim of this study was to explore Jordanian women’s views and perceptions about breast cancer and breast health.MethodsWe performed an explorative qualitative study with purposive sampling. Ten focus groups were conducted consisting of 64 women (aged 20 to 65 years) with no previous history and no symptoms of breast cancer from four governorates in Jordan. The transcribed data was analysed using latent content analysis.ResultsThree themes were constructed from the group discussions: a) Ambivalence in prioritizing own health; b) Feeling fear of breast cancer; and c) Feeling safe from breast cancer. The first theme was seen in women’s prioritizing children and family needs and in their experiencing family and social support towards seeking breast health care. The second theme was building on women’s perception of breast cancer as an incurable disease associated with suffering and death, their fear of the risk of diminished femininity, husband’s rejection and social stigmatization, adding to their apprehensions about breast health examinations. The third theme emerged from the women’s perceiving themselves as not being in the risk zone for breast cancer and in their accepting breast cancer as a test from God. In contrast, women also experienced comfort in acquiring breast health knowledge that soothed their fears and motivated them to seek early detection examinations.ConclusionsWomen’s ambivalence in prioritizing their own health and feelings of fear and safety could be better addressed by designing breast health interventions that emphasize the good prognosis for breast cancer when detected early, involve breast cancer survivors in breast health awareness campaigns and catalyse family support to encourage women to seek breast health care.

The effect of prenatal knowledge of fetal sex on birth weight: a study from Jordan.

In this article we seek to determine the effect of the knowledge of prenatal fetal sex, through the use of ultrasound, on infant mean birth weight and the proportion of low birth weight (LBW) babies. A sample population of 1,195 women (cases, n = 640; control, n = 555) were studied in relation to their knowledge of the sex of the fetus in three hospitals in Amman, Jordan. It was found that prenatally known males had the highest mean birth weights (MBWs) as compared with females. It is proposed that these differences could be attributed to behavioral factors related to son preference. The authors conclude that further research on the actual link between prenatal detection of fetal sex and health behavior as indicated by birth weight is needed.

Assessment of the quality of prenatal care: the transmission of information to pregnant women in maternal and child health centers in jordan.

The quality of information provided to pregnant women seeking prenatal care from public maternal and child health (MCH) facilities was assessed in Irbid, the principal city in the North of Jordan. The structural setup of the settings, as well as the process of information transmission, were examined using interviews of the managing physicians and recipients, as well as observation of encounters between pregnant women and health care providers (physicians and midwives) at the health facility. The results of the study showed that pregnant womens needs for health information were not being adequately met Women were dissatisfied with the quality of information delivered. Inadequacies in both the structure and the process of information provision are discussed.

Provider perceptions of reproductive health service quality in Jordanian public community health centers

Enhancing the quality of reproductive health care delivery in developing countries is a key prerequisite to increased utilization and sustainability of these services in the target population. Our objective was to assess the perception of quality of reproductive health (RH) care services provided by Jordanian Ministry of Health community-based centers from the perspective of service providers in these settings. A purposeful nationwide sample of 50 primary health care providers took part in five focus group discussions with the purpose of exploring their perceptions of the quality of care provided by their centers and perceived barriers to the provision of quality RH care. Health care providers felt that the quality of RH care provided by their centers was suboptimal. Focus group participants reported numerous barriers to the provision of high quality-care in the clinical setting. These included issues related to patient overload, patient and physician characteristics, as well as problems inherent to supervisory and administrative functions. Exploring and aligning goals and expectations of RH care providers and administrators may result in improvements in the quality of RH care service delivery and morale in public health settings in Jordan, which is a requirement for public sector reform.

Perceptions of health and seeking care: the experience of midlife women in Ain Al-Basha Jordan.

Womens health in the developing world should not be limited to measuring morbidity and mortality, but understanding why women may or may not seek care for their health complaints. This article explores what are the health complaints of midlife women and why women choose to seek health care for some complaints, but not for others. The intention here is to better understand what factors might be influencing these womens decisions, and what the health care system can do to address their needs. The percentage of women in this community seeking health care for their perceived health complaints was found to be highly variable, ranging from 100 percent of the women with cancer seeking care to 6 percent of the women with signs of urinary incontinence doing the same. The authors suggest why women treat some conditions and not others is dependent upon womens perception of health, illness and a host of sociocultural and environmental factors.

The role of day care givers in the identification and prevention of infections

The prevalence of nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pyogenes in children attending day care centers in North Jordan was studied. Nasal and throat swabs, cultured for Streptococcus pyogenes were collected from 100 children enrolled in four day care centers serving middle to high socioeconomic status portions of the population in March 1989. The identity of the streptococcal isolates was confirmed by biochemical and serological methods. Throat infection manifestations of the past 3 days, as reported and observed by the care givers, were related to culture results. The study findings showed that the prevalence of nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pyogenes was high and ranged between 10 to 23.3%. It was also noted that the care givers were able to correctly identify children with suspected throat infection, in 11 to 25% of the children who grew Streptococcus pyogenes on cultures, by mere observation of the symptoms. Due to the high prevalence of nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pyogenes in these settings, measures to control and prevent the spread of Streptococcus pyogenes must be employed. This study suggests that care givers may play an important role in achieving such a goal if they are offered proper health education programs and instructions on child hygiene.