Alghafari Wejdan T
Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80324, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Jan 16;13(2):174. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13020174.
Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the parasite and is considered asymptomatic in most cases. In pregnant women, however, the disease can be transmitted to the foetus, causing severe congenital consequences. Congenital toxoplasmosis can be avoided by practising simple preventive lifestyle measures during pregnancy. This cross-sectional study assessed the toxoplasmosis knowledge and preventive behaviours among 135 pregnant Saudi women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews using a validated questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge of toxoplasmosis, and preventive behaviours towards toxoplasmosis between January and April 2023 using convenience snowball sampling. SPSS Statistics was used for data analysis and the qualitative parameters were described as frequencies and percentages. Approximately 45.2% of the participants displayed a poor knowledge of toxoplasmosis. Moreover, participants aged 31-40 years exhibited significantly higher knowledge compared to those aged less than 30 years. Most participants practised effective preventive behaviours, as demonstrated by 90.4% and 86.7% of them reporting that they habitually washed their hands after handling raw meat and did not eat rare meat, respectively. Overall, the poor knowledge of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women in Jeddah highlights the importance of implementing targeted antenatal health education campaigns and interventions to protect pregnant women and minimise the risk of congenital toxoplasmosis.
弓形虫病是一种由寄生虫引起的感染，在大多数情况下被认为是无症状的。然而，在孕妇中，这种疾病可以传染给胎儿，导致严重的先天性后果。通过在孕期采取简单的预防性生活方式措施，可以避免先天性弓形虫病。这项横断面研究评估了沙特阿拉伯吉达的135名沙特孕妇对弓形虫病的了解情况和预防行为。在2023年1月至4月期间，采用便利雪球抽样法，通过面对面访谈使用经过验证的问卷收集数据，问卷涵盖社会人口学特征、对弓形虫病的了解以及对弓形虫病的预防行为。使用SPSS Statistics进行数据分析，定性参数以频率和百分比描述。约45.2%的参与者对弓形虫病的了解较差。此外，31至40岁的参与者比年龄小于30岁的参与者表现出明显更高的了解程度。大多数参与者采取了有效的预防行为，分别有90.4%和86.7%的参与者报告说他们在处理生肉后习惯洗手且不吃生肉。总体而言，吉达孕妇对弓形虫病的了解不足凸显了开展有针对性的产前健康教育活动和干预措施以保护孕妇并将先天性弓形虫病风险降至最低的重要性。
