INTRODUCTION:

Preconception health care is an important aspect. It is a care given to a woman before pregnancy to manage conditions and behaviors which could be a risk to women and the baby.¹ Preconception health looks at factors that can affect a fetus or infant.² These include factors such as nutrition, hazards of smoking, alcohol, radiation, work place hazards, noxious substances, genetic counseling.¹The key to promote preconception health is to combine the best medical care, healthy behaviors, strong support, and safe environment at home and at work.³

TITLE OF THE STUDY:

A quasi experimental study on effect of planned teaching program on knowledge regarding preconception care among senior college girls at selected colleges.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess the existing knowledge regarding preconception care among senior college girls at selected colleges.

2. To evaluate effectiveness of planned teaching program on preconception care among senior college girls at selected colleges.

3. To find out the association between pre-test knowledge scores with selected demographic variables among senior college girls in selected colleges.

NEED FOR STUDY:

A systematic review and meta-analysis of study was conducted on effect of preconception care and the risk of congenital anomalies in the offspring of women with diabetes mellitus. A meta-analysis of published studies of preconception care in women with diabetes mellitus was done. In nine studies, the risk for major and minor anomalies was also lower among women who received Preconception care. The study revealed that the pooled rate of major anomalies was lower among preconception care recipients (2.1%) than non-recipients (6.5%) and. Out-patient preconception care probably reduces the risk of major congenital anomalies among the offspring of women with presentational diabetes mellitus^. Hence, the investigator felt the need for assessing the level of knowledge on preconception care among senior college girls. Investigator also realized that there is an immense need for conducting planned teaching program on preconception care and also to enhance the knowledge of senior college girls regarding preconception care.³

HYPOTHESIS:

H₀ There will be no any significant difference between pre-test and post-test knowledge score regarding preconception care among senior college girls.

H₁There will be significant difference between pretests and posttest knowledge scores regarding preconception care among senior college girls.

H₂There will be significant association between pretest knowledge scores with selected demographic variables among senior college girls.

METHODOLOGY:

The study was conducted using one group pretest and posttest, quasi experimental design.

Accessible population,non probability purposive sampling technique was adopted for this study. From this population 100 senior college girls were selected as subject of the study.

RESULT:

Section I: Information on demographic variables of respondents containing five items.:

The data on sample characteristics revealed that majority of senior college girls the majority of subjects 69(69%) were Hindu religion and minimum 0(0%) subjects were Christian religion. The majority of subjects were 91(91%) belongs to joint family and minimum 3(3%) subjects belong to broken family. Majority of subjects 58(58%) were consume mixed type of diet while minimum 42(42%) subjects were consume vegetarian diet. Majority of subjects 81(81%) were unmarried, while minimum 5(5%) were newly married couple. Majority of the subjects 91(91%) having source of knowledge through TV and newspaper while minimum 9(9%) attending conference.

SECTION II: FINDINGS ON KNOWLEDGE SCORE REGARDING PRECONCEPTION CARE AMONG SENIOR COLLEGE GIRLS.:

Table No.1: Mean and standard deviation of knowledge scores regarding preconception care among senior college girls. n=100

Areas of analysis	Mean	Median	Standard deviation
Pretest(x)	7.95	8	1.75
Posttest (y)	12.92	13	1.78
Difference	5.3	5	0.28

Table no.2 reveal that overall pretest mean knowledge score is 7.95 whereas, posttest mean knowledge score had increased to 12.92, after administration of planned teaching program.

Table No. 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of pretest and posttest knowledge scores of knowledge regarding preconception care among senior college girls. n=100

Knowledge score	pretest		posttest
Knowledge score	Frequency	%	Frequency	%
Good knowledge (15-25)	0	0%	26	26%
Average score (12-14)	6	6%	54	54%
Poor knowledge (0-11)	94	94%	20	20%

Table no.2 reveals that in pretest majority of subjects 94 (94%) had poor knowledge, 6(6%) had average knowledge, and none had good knowledge score; whereas in posttest majority of subjects 54(54%) had average knowledge, 26(26%) had good knowledge and 20(20%) had poor knowledge score.

Section III: Evaluation of the effectiveness of planned teaching program on knowledge regarding preconception care among senior college girls.

The mean posttest knowledge scores of senior college girls was significantly higher than their mean pretest knowledge scores at 0.05 level of significance.

Table No. 3: mean difference (d), standard error and paired„t‟ values of knowledge score of senior college girls n=100

Mean difference	Standard error	Paired „t‟ value
		Calculated value	Table value
5	2.34	32.55	2.26

* (p<0.05)

Table no.3 reveals that calculated paired ‘t’ value (32.55) is greater than tabulated value. Hence H₁ accepted, this indicates that the gain in knowledge score is statistically significant at p<0.05 levels. Therefore, the PTP knowledge regarding preconception care is effective to improve the knowledge among senior college girls.

Section IV: Data describing association between pretest knowledge scores and selected demographic variables.

Table no.4: association between the existing pretest knowledge score of senior college girls and selected demographic variables.

Demographic variables

Good

Average

Poor

Calculated value

Table value

1 Religion

· Hindu

· Muslim

· Christian

· Other

3.278

3.182

(s)

2 Type of family

· Joint family

· Nuclear family

· Broken

1307

4.303

(s)

3 Source of information

· tv newspaper

· conference

1112

12.71

(s)

n=100

S=Significant,

NS=Non Significant

The finding of the table no.4 reveals that the demographic variable with pretest knowledge scores of senior college girls was significantly associated.

The demographic variable religion with computed values 3.278 at df 3 shows an association with pre test knowledge scores at 0.05 level of significance. the demographic variable type of family with computed values at 1307 at df 2 shows an association with pretest knowledge scores at 0.05 level of significance. The demographic variable source of information with computed values 1112 at df 1 shows an association with pre test knowledge scores at 0.05 level of significance. Thus H₂ was accepted

H₂– There will be a statistically significance association between pretest knowledge scores with demographic variables at 0.05 level of significance

RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDY:

1. The study can be replicated on a large sample to validate the findings of the present study.

2. A study can be carried out to evaluate the efficiency of various teaching strategies like self-instructional module, computer assisted instruction on preconception care.

CONCLUSION:

Study concluded that, there was gain in knowledge scores after administration of planned teaching program. The demographic variables Religion, Type of family, Dietary pattern have statistically significant association with knowledge regarding preconception care.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I extend my sincere thanks to Mrs. Hilda Kadam, Ms. Jessey Jacob,Mrs.Sangeeta Satwekar, Mr. Bhalchandra Awale, Mrs. Jesica Waghmare, Mrs.Suman Pawar, Mrs. U. Parker and participant of study.

REFERENCES:

1. Park K. Text book of Preventive and Social Medicine. Jabalpur. M/S Banarsidas Bhanot Publishers. 19^th edition.p.234-6.

2. Gayatri G. K, Joseph J, Maheshwari B. Effect of structured teaching program on knowledge and attitude regarding preconception care among adolescent girls. International journal of applied research.2016; 29): p.435-9.

3. Victoria A.V. Arjun A. Women’s health in India. 1998 Dec

Received on 05.07.2019 Modified on 21.07.2019

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2019; 7(4): 363-365.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2019.00085.4