Awareness and knowledge about gestational diabetes mellitus among antenatal women
Sangeetha Thomas, Ruopfuvinuo Pienyu, Santhosh Kareepadath Rajan
Abstract
Aim The study examined the awareness and knowledge about gestational-diabetes-mellitus (GDM) among antenatal-women and found its influential factors through three phases. Method The sample for phase I was 523 antenatal women. In phases II and III, 33 participants who were identified to be aware of GDM from Phase I were included. Measures used were Gestational-Diabetes-Knowledge-Questionnaire (GDKQ) and an open-ended questionnaire. Results Age and “number of Pregnancies to date” significantly predicted awareness. Kruskal-Wallis H test indicated that antenatal-women differed in their ‘knowledge' across the trimesters. Mann-Whitney U showed a difference in ‘knowledge' among participants, ‘with' and ‘without' a history of diabetes. Electronic and print-media were identified to be the significant sources of knowledge. Conclusion The study highlights the importance of implementing methods that enhance the awareness and knowledge of GDM among the antenatal women.