Factors affecting pre-pregnancy care among women based on the theory of planned behavior in Larestan, Iran, in 2016

Abstract

Pre-pregnancy care is a series of interventions aimed to identify and modify behavioral and social risk factors and improve women’s health before pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting pre-pregnancy care based on the theory of planned behavior in women aged 15–49 years in Larestan city, Shiraz, in 2016. In this descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study, all women aged 15 to 49 years, who agreed to complete a self-administered questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior, were included. Predictors of pre-pregnancy care intention and behavior were identified using linear and logistic regression. The results showed that 46.4% of women had received pre-pregnancy care. The most important predictors of intention were attitude (P < 0.001) and subjective norm (P < 0.001), and the most important predictors of the behavior were knowledge (P < 0.001) and perceived behavioral control (P = 0.010). To increase women’s tendency to perform pre-pregnancy care, physicians and health care providers should increase women’s knowledge by emphasizing the benefits of pre-pregnancy care for the mother, child and family, and they should try to encourage women to perform pre-pregnancy care.