Awareness and Knowledge about Uterine Prolapse with the use of Brochure as Health Education Tool

Abstract

Introduction: Uterine prolapse is a main public health problem of reproductive age women in Nepal with the prevalence of 17 to 27%. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a health education tool developed as a brochure for awareness about uterine prolapse. This will contribute to the effort of increasing awareness on various aspects of uterine prolapse among community people by the creation, evaluation and dissemination of this particular awareness brochure.

Methods: The study involved 80 women between the ages of 14 to 59 years who attended the Gynaecological Out Patient Department at KIST Medical College Teaching Hospital from 1st September to 31st October 2017. The knowledge about the uterine prolapse was assessed before and after the administration of awareness tool in the form of the brochure. The participants were first assessed about the knowledge of uterine prolapse before the presentation of the brochure and then they were explained on various aspects e.g. symptoms, causes, prevention and treatment options of uterine prolapse using the brochure with pictures which was prepared by the women who were suffering from the uterine prolapse. After some time they were reassessed using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered into an excel sheet and analyzed. Comparison of knowledge between the pre and post presentation of the brochure was done.

Results: The majority of the participants were in the age group of 20 to 45 years. Maximum numbers of participants (90%) were from other districts and only 10% were from Kathmandu district. Among them, 77% had heard of uterine prolapse (UP) and 23% had never heard of it. Regarding the symptoms of UP, before the presentation of brochure 63.7% didn’t know about the symptoms and after the presentation, 98.7% could cite at least two symptoms. Regarding the cause of the UP, before the presentation of the brochure, only 53.7% could tell about one cause of UP and afterwards, 100% could remember at least 2 causes of UP. Knowledge about treatment options increased to 97.5% from only 56.2% before the presentation of the brochure.

Conclusions: The findings of the study reflect that the use of a brochure in health education was highly effective in enhancing knowledge and awareness about UP. This brochure can be used in more extensive public awareness programs in the community. Keywords: Awareness; Brochure; Effectiveness; Knowledge; Uterine prolapse