Abstract

Pregnancy can increase blood pressure in women who had already normal blood pressure and it is a common cause of hospitalization for pregnant women in the hospital. This study aims at taking a step towards evaluating knowledge, attitude and functioning of pregnant women in Zabol toward their blood pressure and their health optimization. In this cross-sectional study, 260 pregnant women who were referred to health centers during 2014 were studied. A questionnaire containing demographic questions, knowledge questions (15 items), attitude questions (10 items), and functioning questions (8 items) was used for data collection which were answered by the pregnant women, and then were analyzed by software SPSS 18. Among participant mothers in the study 198 (76.2) had poor awareness, 122 (46.9) ones had average attitude and 189 (72.7) ones had good functioning toward pregnancy induced hypertension. Such factors as educational level and job had impact on awareness of pregnant women (P<0.05), while their awareness was not associated with pregnancy frequency, pregnancy age, history of abortion, age group and source of information (P>0.05). Also, age group, job, educational level and source of information of pregnant women was associated with their attitude (P<0.05), while no relationship was observed between attitude and pregnancy frequency, pregnancy age and history of abortion (P>0.05), and such factors as educational level and job had not impact on functioning of pregnant women (P>0.05). Awareness and functioning of pregnant women is improved by increasing their job and employment (P<0.05). But attitude was improved in pregnant women by decreasing educational level and age. Also, being housewife versus being employed and using friend as source of information improved their attitude more than other sources. Educational level of pregnant women, job, source of information, age group were among the main factors affecting awareness, attitude, and functioning of these women regarding pregnancy induced hypertension. © 2017, Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. All rights reserved.