Pelvic inflammatory disease: improving women awareness regarding postabortive preventive measures

Background Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is one of the most serious infections faced by women today. It is a common problem encountered in post natal, post abortions and family planning clinics. Aim To evaluate the effect of educational program on women awareness regarding postabortive preventive measures of PID. Patients and methods A quasi-experimental design was used to achieve the aim of the study, which was conducted at the outpatient clinics of Maternal and Child Minia University Hospital. Sampling A purposive sample of 100 women was recruited. Tools Three tools were used in the current study for data collection: tool 1, structured interviewing questionnaire; tool 2, knowledge assessment tool; and tool 3, self-reported practice assessment tool. Results Overall, 85% of women had poor level of knowledge regarding PID and its prevention at preeducational test; this improved at posteducational test to 90% of them having good level of knowledge about PID and its prevention. Moreover, 83% of women had unsatisfactory level of reported practices related to postabortion care at preeducational test; this improved at posteducational test to 88% of them having satisfactory level of reported postabortion care practices. There was a positive association between knowledge scores and reported practice scores of the women at posteducational program. Conclusion Application of health education program was significant in enhancing the knowledge and self-reported practices among women in postabortion period regarding preventive measures of PID. Recommendations More research studies are needed to increase women’s awareness regarding postabortive preventive measures of PID because there were few research studies in this field.