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Anaemia Among Refugees Pregnant Women in Gaza Strip: Perceptions, Awareness and Opinions and Attitudes
Volume 7, Issue 4, July 2019, Pages: 109-115
Received: May 23, 2019; Accepted: Jun. 25, 2019; Published: Jul. 10, 2019
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Marwan Mosleh, Ministry of Health, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Koustuv Dalal, School of Health and Education, University of Skovde, Skovde, Sweden
Anaemia in pregnancy is the most common public health concern in both developed and developing worlds like Palestine. Little is known about this significant health issue. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perception, opinions and attitudes of anaemia among refugees pregnant women in Gaza strip. A cross-sectional study was employed among a random sample of 164 women or subjects, with a response rate of 81%. The survey was conducted at UNRWA antenatal health centers at refugee camps in Gaza strip. The study was approved by United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) health department. The study elucidated that a higher rate of women were knowledgeable and had ideas on anaemia, however, some women had inadequate knowledge on anaemia during pregnancy. There were a concern and misconception regarding some issues on anaemia such as; lack of knowledge on the effect of drinking tea on iron absorption; and on the side effects of iron pills during pregnancy. Highly positive opinions and attitudes toward anaemia were observed in most women. The study found that a high proportion of women were dissatisfied with the volume of health education sessions on anaemia at UNRWA antenatal health centers and many women had not attended or joined such sessions. In general, the study declined to find a significant differences regarding anaemia between women with and those without health education sessions on anaemia. Finally, the study suggests that, an effective and a clear health education strategy is needed in order to improve women perceptions, awareness, opinions and attitudes regarding anaemia in Palestine. Further researches are important and needed in this scope.
Perceptions, Anaemia, Refugees, Pregnant Women, UNRWA, Gaza Strip
To cite this article
Marwan Mosleh, Koustuv Dalal, Anaemia Among Refugees Pregnant Women in Gaza Strip: Perceptions, Awareness and Opinions and Attitudes, Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Vol. 7, No. 4, 2019, pp. 109-115. doi: 10.11648/j.jgo.20190704.13
Copyright © 2019 Authors retain the copyright of this article.
This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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