Impact of a pharmacist-provided information booklet on knowledge and attitudes towards oral contraception among Jordanian women: an interventional study

Abstract

Objectives: Jordan has high rate of unintended pregnancy, which is largely attributed to limited knowledge and misconceptions about contraceptive methods, namely oral contraceptive pills (OCPs). The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a pharmacist-provided information booklet on increasing the knowledge of Jordanian women about safe and effective OCP use.

Methods: This was a randomised interventional study. One hundred and sixty women who had used OCPs at least once in their lifetime were randomised to receive conventional counselling (control group) or a pharmacist-provided booklet (intervention group). Knowledge about and attitude towards OCP use were assessed before and immediately after the intervention, and at three-month follow-up.

Results: The mean knowledge score (out of 5) of women in the intervention group improved significantly from 1.76 at baseline (standard deviation [SD] 1.25) to 5.00 (p < .000) directly after the intervention, which then slightly decreased to 4.93 (SD 0.31; p = .033) at follow-up. The baseline mean knowledge score of the control group was 1.29 (SD 1.12) and did not significantly increase over time. It was also considerably lower than that of the intervention group both immediately after the intervention and at follow-up. As regards mean attitude score (out of 6), the control group demonstrated no changes from baseline, whereas the intervention group improved significantly from 5.15 (SD 1.63) to 5.50 (SD 1.36; p = .014).

Conclusions: Provision of an information booklet by pharmacists to women in Jordan using OCPs is highly recommended. Studies with a larger sample size and from different regions of Jordan are recommended.

Chinese abstract

目的：约旦有较高的意外怀孕率, 这很大程度上是因为关于避孕方法的认识有限和误解, 即口服避孕药（OCPs）。本研究的目的是研究药师提供的信息手册对增加约旦妇女使用OCP的安全性和有效性认识的影响。

方法：本研究是随机干预性研究。160名一生中至少使用过一次OCP的女性被随机分配接受常规咨询（对照组）或药师提供的手册（干预组）。在干预前、后, 以及在三个月的随访中, 评估关于OCP使用的认识和态度。

结果：干预组平均认识得分（满分5分）由基线水平的1.76分（标准差[SD] 1.25）显著提高至干预后的5分（p < .000）, 在以后的随访中轻度下降至4.93分（SD 0.31; p = .033）。对照组基线水平的平均得分为1.29 （SD 1.12）, 且并未随着时间显著增加。在干预后和随访中, 对照组得分也显著低于干预组得分。关于平均态度得分（满分6分）, 对照组与基线水平无任何变化, 而干预组从5.15分（SD 1.63）显著增加至5.50分（SD 1.36; p= .014）。

结论：强烈建议药师向约旦妇女提供使用OCP的信息手册。建议进行更大样本量和约旦不同地区的研究。

Keywords:

• Attitude
• information booklet
• knowledge
• oral contraceptive pills

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.