Evaluation of the awareness of NEU Meram Faculty of Medicine intern doctors about preconceptional care

Aim: Preconceptional care is the provision of appropriate interventions to identify and minimize the factors that may pose a risk to pregnancy, maternal and child health in the preconception period. Acquiring a healthy lifestyle of individuals contributes to the formation of healthy individuals for future generations and society. Preconceptional care is a part of preventive health services and physicians have a great role in providing this care. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and awareness of the last year students of Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Medicine about preconceptional care. Materials and methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of Term 6 students of Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Medicine in the 2022-2023 academic year. During the specified period, there were 227 students in Term 6 of Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Medicine. 208 students (91.6%) who agreed to participate in the study voluntarily and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The participants were administered a questionnaire created by the researchers by reviewing the literature, the first part of which questioned the sociodemographic information of the participants, and the second part included questions about preconceptional care. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows) 20.0 program was used to analyze the data obtained. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 59.1% of the participants were women and the average age was 23.83±1.24 (min=22; max=32) years. 96.6% of the participants were single and 99% were childless. 78.8% of the intern physicians had not heard of preconceptional care, 21.2% had heard of it; 79.5% of those who had heard of preconceptional care stated that they had heard of it in faculty courses. Of the intern physicians, 91.8% had not received training on preconceptional care, 8.2% had received training; 94.1% of those who had received training stated that they had received training in faculty courses. There was no statistically significant relationship between gender and hearing about preconceptional care and receiving education (p=0.858, p=0.067). 48.1% of the participants knew the definition of preconceptional care correctly. There was a significant correlation between having heard of preconceptional care and knowing the definition of preconceptional care correctly, and those who had heard of preconceptional care before gave more correct answers to the question about the definition of preconceptional care than those who had not.(p=? ) Among the topics covered in preconceptional care, the most correctly known topics were nutrition-exercise-weight management (82.2%), smoking-alcohol-substance use (77.9%), family history-genetic diseases (76.0%), family planning (75.0%), drug use (71.6%), chronic diseases (71.6%), infections (65.9%).79.3% of the participants knew that the ideal time to start folic acid supplementation is before pregnancy. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, the rate of intern physicians hearing about preconception care and receiving training is quite low. Intern physicians are generally aware of the risk factors that may cause negative pregnancy outcomes, but they need to increase their knowledge and awareness about the importance of preconception care, the need to take precautions against risk factors not only during pregnancy but also in the pre-pregnancy period, and how to intervene. Key words: Preconceptional care, intern physician, pre-pregnancy period, medical school