Mothers' knowledge and attitudes about newborn screenings

The newborn screening programme is a public health service carried out to detect diseases that are common in the newborn period and do not give symptoms in the early period. This programme aims to prevent mortality and morbidity by early diagnosis of diseases that are treatable or leave permanent sequelae when left untreated. Nurses, who have an important role in protecting and promoting the health of the society, have responsibilities as well as families. For this reason, paediatric nurses should inform mothers to perform newborn screening tests accurately and reliably despite the mandatory implementation of newborn screening tests. Mothers' knowledge about newborn screening programmes and positive attitudes are of great importance for the health of infants. Accordingly, it enables mothers to participate in screening tests in a timely and accurate manner, thus increasing the opportunities for early diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes of mothers about newborn screening programmes. This study, which is descriptive was conducted between April 2023 and August 2023 in the Republic of Turkey. It was carried out with postpartum mothers in the obstetrics and gynecology service of the Ministry of Health, Hitit University, Çorum Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital. The research was conducted with 250 mothers who met the sample selection criteria and agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected with "Introductory information form for mothers" and "Mother's Knowledge and Attitudes about Newborn Screening Scale (YTHABTO)". The scale consists of 13 items and 3 sub-dimensions. The minimum and maximum values that can be taken from the scale vary between 0-52. As the score from the scale increases, mothers' knowledge and attitudes decrease. vii Statistical analysis of the data was performed with the IBM SPSS statistical package program. In descriptive statistics, the data obtained with the information form and scale are reported as number of units (n), percentage (%), mean ± standard deviation (x±ss), median (M), minimum (min) and maximum (max) values. Normal distribution of the data of numerical variables was evaluated with the Shapiro Wilk normality test. It was observed that the data did not provide a normal distribution. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare two groups, and the Kruskal Wallis H test was used to compare three or more groups. The relationship between age, scale sub-dimensions and total was evaluated with Spearman's rho coefficient. The average age of postpartum mothers was 29,16±5,85 and %60,8 were determined to be multiparous. While the total mean score of the mothers from YTHABTO was 16,02±6,16, the mothers' education level, place of residence, income level, presence of health insurance, family type, spouse's relative status, presence of hereditary disease in the family, number of pregnancies, regular check-ups during pregnancy. It was determined that the difference between the YTHABTOS total score average according to the availability of information on the subject was significant (p<0,05). At the same time, it was determined that there was a very strong positive correlation between the mothers' total scale score and the attitude, concept and knowledge sub-dimensions (rho= 767, p<0.001; rho= 736, p<0.001; rho= 782, p<0.001, respectively). As a result, it was seen that mothers were knowledgeable about newborn screening and had positive attitudes, but this knowledge was not at the desired level. In this regard, pediatric nurses should inform mothers about newborn screening and provide consultancy services. Key Terms: Newborn screenings, Mother, Nurse, Information, Attitude