Abstrait

Effect of the Educational Package Based on Health Belief Model regarding Lifestyle among Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Amira R Said* and Fatma K Aly

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with potentially harmful effects on the mother and fetus. Thus the identification of gestational diabetes mellitus offers a chance to improve pregnancy outcomes and identify women to target dietary and lifestyle health promotion.

Aim: Aim of this research was to examine effect of the educational package based on health belief model regarding lifestyle among women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Design: A quasi experimental design was utilized.

Setting: This research was conducted in Obstetrics and Gynaecological Outpatient Clinic at Benha University Hospital.

Sample: A purposive sample of (70) randomly women divided into (35) intervention group and (35) control group.

Tools: Data were collected through three main tools: A self-administered questionnaire to assess women’s general characteristics and knowledge regarding gestational diabetes mellitus, health belief model scale, and health promoting lifestyle Profile II.

Results: Showed that the mean age in both control and study group were 27.94 ± 4.20 and 28.4 ± 4.57 years respectively. (42.9%) of control group and (45.7%) of intervention group had healthy lifestyle level toward gestational diabetes mellitus before gestational diabetes mellitus educational package implementation, compared to 4 weeks after gestational diabetes mellitus educational package implementation (45.7 %) of control group and the majority (94.3%) of intervention group had healthy lifestyle level toward gestational diabetes mellitus.

Conclusions: There was a positive statistically significant correlation between total knowledge score, total lifestyle score and total health belief model score before and four weeks after gestational diabetes mellitus educational package implementation (p<0.001).

Recommendations: Establish strategies to enhance the women’s understanding of healthy lifestyle by applying this model to a large sample in various obstetrics and gynecological outpatient clinics.