An examination of the preconceptional care awareness and knowledge of couples preparing for marriage

In the present study, it was aimed to examine the preconceptional care awareness and knowledge of couples who were preparing for marriage. The sample of this descriptive-cross-sectional study consists of 240 engaged couples who applied for marriage to the marriage directorate of a provincial municipality and attended the "First Step to Marriage" seminar organized by a provincial mufti. The data of the present study was collected by the researchers through face-to-face interviews using the "Personal Information Form" and the "Preconceptional Care Awareness and Knowledge Questionnaire".The analysis of the obtained data was executed by using the IBM SPSS 22.0 program. Chi-square, Fisher exact, t-test, One-Way ANOVA, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, and post hoc (Tukey, LSD) analyzes were used to compare the data in independent groups. 71.7% of women and 45.4% of men were in the age group of 25 and below, and 76.3% of women and 64.6% of men had a high school or higher level of education. 12.5% of couples were related to the person they were planning to marry. It was found that 54.2% of the women and 56.3% of the men were planning to have a baby immediately or 1 year after marriage, 25.4% of the women and 26.2% of the men did not have a plan regarding the time of having a baby after marriage. 23.8% of women and 9.6% of men had a disease that might affect health during pregnancy. It was found that 8.8% of women and 4.2% of men heard the concept of preconceptional care, and there was a significant difference between men and women in terms of hearing the concept of preconceptional care (p<0.05). It was found that 70.4% of the women and 59.2% of the men were aware that the health of the woman before pregnancy could cause serious consequences on the health of the unborn baby (p<0.05). 58.3% of women and 49.6% of men stated that preconceptional care and counseling are necessary for both women and men, and a statistically significant difference was found between men and women (p<0.05). 62.9% of women and 50.0% of men stated that preconceptional care and counseling are important for both the baby and the mother, and a statistically significant difference was found between women and men (p<0.05). It was found that 54.6% of the women and 32.5% of the men wanted to receive preconceptional care and counseling, and there was a statistically significant difference between men and women in terms of their willingness to receive preconceptional care and counseling (p<0.05). It was found that the content knowledge total mean score of the participants was 63.34±32.31, the benefits knowledge total mean score of the participants was 47.04±40.26, and the overall knowledge total mean scoreof the participants was 59.26±31.85. In the present study, gender, educational level, occupation, income level, the status of having a health insurance, the planned time to have a baby after marriage, the presence of a disease that may affect health during pregnancy, and the presence of genetic disease in the family were found to be important variables in determining the preconceptional care knowledge total mean score. Keywords: Awareness, Couples Preparing For Marriage, Knowledge, Preconceptional Care