Effect of Pre-Marital Care Educational Program on Knowledge and Attitude of Female University Students

Abstract

Context: Health and well-being before marriage help to maintain the health of future children. Therefore, healthcare should begin before marriage through premarital care as it can recognize and modify health risk factors well-known to have adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes.
 Aim: The current research carried out to examine the effect of pre-marital care educational program on the knowledge and attitude of female university students.
 Methods: A quasi-experimental design (Pre-test/Post-test) was adopted to achieve the stated aim. A stratified sample of one thousand female students was recruited. The research was conducted at the Nursing and Commerce Faculties at Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt. Two tools constructed by the researchers: self-administered questionnaire and Pre-marital care attitude assessment scale.
 Results: The research findings revealed that 32.30% of nursing students have a high level of knowledge pre-program compared to 54.00% post-program, while 21.00% of commerce students have a high level of knowledge pre-program compared to 41.00% post-program. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between mean knowledge score pre and post-program (p< 0.001). Concerning students’ attitudes, it was observed that positive attitude expanded from 54.700% to 66.00 % among nursing students and from 49.00% to 57.500% among commerce students. As well, there was a statistically significant difference between pre-program and post-program attitude levels (p< 0.001).
 Conclusion: the research hypotheses were accepted as the knowledge and attitude of students were improved after receiving the program suggesting its effectiveness. The study recommended that university students should be equipped with adequate in-depth health information related to pre-marital care to expand the general population mindfulness and impact their attitude toward pre-marital care.