INTRODUCTION:

About 6–15% of women have PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome, one of the most prevalent endocrine illnesses in women.¹ The main feature of this condition is an incredibly erratic menstrual cycle without ovulation. The most common endocrine issue affecting women of reproductive age is PCOS, which is also one of the main causes of female infertility. Although the cysts are not dangerous, they can cause hormone imbalances, irregular periods, and difficulty conceiving.²

A study carried out to ascertain and analyse the frequency of PCOS symptoms among female students in various Quetta public universities using a mixed methodology approach. Data from 451 female students between the ages of 18 and 26 were gathered using stratified sampling technique. The study's conclusions showed that 374(72.5%) respondents had never heard of PCOS and had only received information from a pamphlet. Following the educational intervention, 407 individuals (90.2%) possessed sufficient knowledge regarding PCOS management. The study's findings indicate that while the prevalence of PCOS indications and symptoms is rising, many female participants are unaware that they may have the condition while having many of its symptoms.³

A cross-sectional study was conducted to gauge the 350 teenage girls at a particular nursing college's level of knowledge on PCOS. The findings showed that 350 teenage girls, or 100% of the sample, were between the ages of 18 and 20. 306 students (87.4%) were found to have insufficient information about PCOS, whereas 44 students (12.6%) knew enough about the condition. Knowledge of PCOS was shown to be significantly correlated with the major source of information (p¼0.012) at the 0.05 level of significance. According to the study's findings, organized educational initiatives are required to raise general awareness of identifying presenting symptoms, encourage early identification and treatment of the illness, and ultimately improve overall health.⁴

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

According to the World Health Organization, in 2012, 3.4% of women had PCOS and were pretentious. Worldwide, the prevalence of PCOS ranges from 2.2 to 26%. The prevalence rates in Asian nations, such as China and Sri Lanka, were 6.3 and 7.5%, respectively. Research carried out in India consistently reported prevalence rates of 9.6 and 22.2%, respectively, for Maharashtra and South India.⁵ research done at Salem with forty-four teenage girls. According to the findings, forty-five percent of the pupils were under the age of twenty. Eighty percent of the students had a diverse diet, and 61.3% of undergraduate nursing students were at their optimal weight with no one being obese.⁶

One of the issues with public health that requires early action is polycystic ovarian disease. An estimated 8–13% of women who are of reproductive age have the illness, and up to 70% of instances go untreated. Changes in lifestyle, medication, or surgery to induce regular ovulation can all help minimize symptoms. It is crucial to evaluate nurses' understanding of polycystic ovarian disease (PCOS). Additionally, effective training interventions should be carried out, particularly for nurses, as they can greatly enhance their level of PCOS knowledge. When it comes to educating teenage ladies and providing health education at different universities, healthcare professionals such as ANM are essential. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the ANM students enrolled in a certain college's degree of knowledge on polycystic ovarian disease.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian disease among Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students studying in selected Nursing college.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian disease among Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students studying in selected Nursing college.

2. To associate the knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian disease with selected socio demographic variables.

Hypothesis:

H₁: There is a significant association between demographic variable and knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian disease.

Assumption:

Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students may have inadequate knowledge about polycystic ovarian disease.

Delimitations

1. The study is delimited to only the Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students in selected nursing college.

2. The study is delimited to the information obtained through questionnaire developed by the investigator.

Sample selection criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students who are willing to participate in the study.

2. Who can read/write and understanding Hindi language.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife students who are not available during the data collection time.

METHODOLOGY:

The research approach used in study was quantitative approach. Non-experimental descriptive design was adopted in this study. By using Non probability purposive sampling technique was utilized to select 30 participants. The study was conducted in Dr. Ashish Paramedical College, Deoria. Self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the Knowledge. Knowledge questionnaire was consisting of 20 items which include about polycystic ovarian syndrome and its causes, symptoms, identification through diagnostic test, treatment and control measures. Validity of the tool was established in consultation with guide and experts from the field of Community Health Nursing. After obtaining consent data was collected, organized and tabulated for analysis.

RESULTS:

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of demographic variables (N=30)

S. No	Variables	Frequency	Percentage
1.	Age in
	(a)19 to 24 years	26	86.6%
	(b) 25 to 30 years	2	6.6%
	(c)-30 and above years	2	6.6%
2.	Residence
	(a) Rural	20	66.66%
	(b) urban	10	33.33%
3.	Age of menarche
	a) 12-15 year	21	70%
	b) 16year and above	9	30%
4.	Duration of menstrual cycle
	a) 28 days and above	26	86.6%
	b) 26 days	2	6.6%
	c) 21 days	2	6.6%
5.	Menstrual cycle
	Regular	25	83.33%
	Irregular (Rarely)	5	16.66%

Table 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of knowledge level regarding polycystic ovarian disease among the ANM students

N=30

S. No	Level of knowledge	Frequency	Percentage
1	Excellent	1	3.33%
2	Good	23	76.66%
3	Poor	6	20%

The above table 2 depicted the Frequency and percentage distribution of knowledge level on polycystic ovarian disease among ANM students and the finding revealed that maximum students (76.66%) had good knowledge about polycystic ovarian disease.

DISCUSSION:

The results of this study explained that a maximum of 26 samples (86.66%) were between 19-24 years, coming from rural areas (66.66%), most of them (70%) attained menarche in the age between 12-15 years and duration is 28 days cycle and above and also most of the students have regular menstrual cycle. When considering the level of knowledge among ANM students, most of them have good knowledge regarding polycystic ovarian disease. The chi-square test revealed that none of the socio demographic variables are associated with knowledge level of ANM students. In a related study, conducted in Mangalore, Sunanda and Nayak found that, out of 150 students, 114 or 76% had average knowledge, 20 or 13.3% had low knowledge, and 16 or 10.6% had good knowledge.⁷ Other research was carried out on first-year B.Sc. Nursing students at SAIMS College of Nursing, Indore. The findings demonstrated a significant difference in the nursing students' pretest and post-test knowledge scores; there was evidence of a highly significant difference (t-65.0 p < 0.001 two tailed) between the mean pretest (X1=9.30) and post-test (X2=13.62) knowledge scores associate between knowledge score and various variables.⁸

CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY:

Early identification of PCOD helps to reduce the occurrence of complications and improve fertility. adolescent. Effective educational intervention should be conducted especially for nurses can significantly increase their level of knowledge on PCOS. Healthcare personnel play vital role in educating the adolescent girls and conducting health education in various colleges to create awareness about polycystic ovarian disease.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· Similar study can be conducted with the larger samples to validate and generalize the findings.

· An experimental study can be conducted with different audio-visual aids.

· This study can also be conducted among school and college students.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I would like to say heartfelt gratitude my family and colleagues for their valuable support to complete my study.

REFERENCES:

1. Unfer V. Polycystic ovary syndrome: features, diagnostic criteria and treatments. Endocrinol Metabol Syndrome. 2014; 3: 1-12.

3. Suhas D, Suresh D, Panchshila D. Review on Introduction to PCOS and their management. J Sci. 2015; 5: 208-12.

4. Haq N., Khan Z., Riaz S., Nasim A., Shahwani R., Tahir M. Prevalence and knowledge of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among female science students of different public universities of Quetta, Pakistan. Imperial J Interdiscip Res. 2017; 3: 385–392.

5. Ferrao et al. Knowledge on PCOS among the Nursing Students of a Selected College, Mangaluru. December 2022. Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU. 13(05) DOI:10.1055/s-0042-1759522

6. Rastogi A. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) | National Health Portal of India [Internet]. Nhp.gov.in. 2022 https://www.nhp.gov.in/

7. Santhi.M. D et al. A study to assess the level of knowledge on polycystic ovarian syndrome among nursing students at selected Nursing college, Salem. International Journal of Psychiatric Nursing. 2019; 5(1): 71-75.

8. Sunanda B, Nayak S. A study to assess the knowledge regarding PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) among nursing students at NUINS. NUJHS 2016; 6(03):2

9. Yashoda Shrivastava, Parvati Jagdev. A Study to assess the Effectiveness of self-Instructional module on Knowledge regarding Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome among B.Sc. Nursing students of Selected nursing college. Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2019; 9(3): 388-390.

Received on 30.08.2024 Revised on 11.10.2024

Accepted on 14.11.2024 Published on 20.11.2024

Available online on December 28, 2024

Int. J. of Advances in Nursing Management. 2024;12(4):188-190.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2024.00041