All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Asian J Psychiatr. 2022 Jun;72:103091. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103091. Epub 2022 Apr 6.
Pregnancy is usually a period of joy, happiness, and expectation for a baby. However, COVID-19 changed the priority and created an environment of worry, perceived threats, and increased protective behaviour to safeguard mother and baby against COVID-19.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess, the level of knowledge, perceived threats, protective behavior, and factors affecting protective behavior among pregnant women by using a convenient sampling technique. The questionnaire collected the demographic profile, knowledge related to the risk factors of COVID-19, perceived treats (severity and susceptibility), and protective behaviors adopted by pregnant women.
Among the 325 pregnant women, knowledge was high (50.5%), the highest relative Importance Index for perceived susceptibility and severity was coming to hospital visits (0.64), and the belief that COVID-19 is a severe health problem (0.81) respectively. Around 69.8% had followed COVID appropriate protective behaviors. The study also revealed that, a high level of knowledge (AOR=2.45, 95%CI:1.45-4.13) and having a university education (AOR= 2.91, 95%CI:1.62-5.22) had a significantly higher probability of adapting COVID appropriate behavior among pregnant women.
This study emphasizes the need to streamline communication and adequate education for pregnant women which can help reduce perceived threats and improve protective behavior.
妊娠通常是一段充满喜悦、幸福和对婴儿期待的时期。然而，COVID-19 改变了这一切，使人们忧心忡忡，感到潜在威胁，并增加了保护行为，以保护母婴免受 COVID-19 的侵害。
采用横断面研究，通过方便抽样技术评估孕妇的知识水平、感知威胁、保护行为以及影响保护行为的因素。问卷收集了孕妇的人口统计学特征、与 COVID-19 危险因素相关的知识、感知威胁（严重程度和易感性）以及孕妇采取的保护行为。
在 325 名孕妇中，知识水平较高（50.5%），感知易感性和严重程度的最高相对重要性指数分别为来医院就诊（0.64）和认为 COVID-19 是严重健康问题（0.81）。约 69.8%的孕妇采取了 COVID 适当的保护措施。研究还表明，高水平的知识（AOR=2.45，95%CI：1.45-4.13）和接受过大学教育（AOR=2.91，95%CI：1.62-5.22）的孕妇更有可能采取 COVID 适当的行为。
本研究强调需要为孕妇提供沟通和充分的教育，这有助于降低感知威胁和改善保护行为。
