A Peer Group Education Intervention to Improve Awareness, Knowledge and Preventive Behavioral Intentions for Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)Among Rural Communities in South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Background : Calls for cost effective interventions towards STIs are never ending. Therefore, studies have suggested peer education intervention as a cost-effective approach in raising awareness, improving knowledge and encouraging preventive behaviors against STIs. While women are particularly at risk of contracting STIs, those in the rural communities are at a greater risk of having them due to their low socio-economic status and high illiteracy level. In this study, we focused on an aspect of STI that have often been neglected in interventions: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). Specifically, the study examined the effectiveness of Peer group education intervention on awareness, knowledge and preventive behavioral intentions towards PID among women in rural communities. Methodology : A quasi-experimental research design was conducted on 338 women in both treatment and control communities. Results : the study found that peer education intervention was effective in raising awareness, improving knowledge and preventive behavioral intentions towards PID among women in rural communities. Conclusion : Because PID issues do not draw as much scholarly attention as other STIs in literature, there is a great need to begin to focus on the disease that is silently affecting a number of women of childbearing everywhere.