Factors affecting anemia prevention behaviors among pregnant women in Phetchabun Province, Northern Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Anemia among pregnant women is a major public health problem in Thailand and in many countries worldwide. Anemia affects the mother and fetus during pregnancy and is a leading cause of maternal death. This cross-sectional analytical study aimed to identify the factors affecting anemia prevention behaviors among pregnant women in Phetchabun Province, northern Thailand. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 383 pregnant women registered for prenatal care at four hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health in Phetchabun Province. A stratified sampling technique was performed to recruit participants. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of 8 sections: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) knowledge about anemia in pregnant women, (3) perceived severity of anemia in pregnant women, (4) perceived susceptibility of anemia in pregnant women, (5) perceived outcome of anemia prevention behaviors in pregnant women, (6) perceived self-efficacy to prevent anemia in pregnant women, (7) social support to prevent anemia in pregnant women, and (8) anemia prevention behaviors in pregnant women. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression analysis. The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The majority of participants (80.2%) had high mean scores of anemia prevention behaviors in pregnant women (mean scores of 3.68-5.00). Factors that significantly affected anemia prevention behaviors included social support (β = 0.275), perceived outcome of anemia prevention behaviors (β = 0.179), age (β = 0.113), perceived self-efficacy to prevent anemia (β = 0.161), being gravidity 2 or more (β = 0.125), and body mass index (β = 0.116). These 6 factors can explain 26.2% of anemia prevention behaviors among pregnant women in Phetchabun Province. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that pregnant women need social support, perceived outcomes of anemia prevention, and perceived self-efficacy of anemia prevention to change their anemia prevention behaviors. The focus is on those in the younger age group, having one pregnancy, and having a lower body mass index than normal.