A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Self-Instructional Module on Knowledge Regarding Prevention of Puerperal Infection among Postnatal Mothers at Selected Hospital, Mysore

Abstract

Puerperal sepsis is an infective condition in the mother following childbirth. It is the third most common cause of maternal death worldwide as a result of childbirth after haemorrhage and abortion. According to WHO estimates puerperal infection accounts for 15% of the 500000 maternal deaths annually, in low- and middle-income countries puerperal infection are the sixth leading cause of disease burden in women during their reproductive years. The study was conducted at selected hospitals at Mysore among 60 postnatal mothers selected by non-probability convenient sampling and who met inclusion criteria. The research approach in the study was the quasi-experimental design and the conceptual model used in this study is von Bertaianffy's General system theory. The data collected were analysed by using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. In the pre-test majority of postnatal mothers in the experimental group i.e., 19(63.33%) had poor knowledge but in the post-test majority of postnatal mothers, 21(70%) had average knowledge on the prevention of puerperal infection. Then paired t-test computed between pre and post-test knowledge scores in the experimental group had a 0.05 level of significance. The calculated t value is 10.29 greater than the table value (t 29=1.699) so SIM was effective in increasing the knowledge of postnatal mothers on prevention of puerperal infection. The chi-square test was used to check the association and found a significant association with the demographic variables. They finally established that there was no association between the knowledge of the sample on the prevention of puerperal infection and the selected demographic variable except previous knowledge on the prevention of puerperal infection in the experimental group. The present study revealed that SIM on knowledge regarding the prevention of puerperal infection was effective among postnatal mothers.