Background: Preconception care is the provision of biomedical, behavioral, and social health interventions to women and couples before pregnancy occurs. Preconception care is the most innovative approach among the spectrum of maternal and child health services to address all adverse pregnancy outcomes and to considerably reduce maternal, newborn, infant, and child morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the findings of this study may be used as preliminary information by concerned bodies.
Objective: The study aimed to assess the level of knowledge on preconception care and associated factors among healthcare providers working in public health facilities in Adama town, Oromia, Ethiopia, from February 01 to 28, 2022.
Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 healthcare providers selected using a multistage sampling technique. Data was collected by an interviewer-administered questionnaire, then entered into Epi-Info version 7.2 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were performed to describe the study population. A simple binary logistic regression analysis was performed, and variables with a p-value < 0.25 were selected for multivariable logistic regression analysis. The association between dependent and independent variables was estimated by an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) along with a 95% confidence interval (CI). P-value < 0.05 was considered to declare statistical significance.
Results: Among the total respondents, 61.3% [95% CI: (56.8%, 66.2%)] of them had a good level of knowledge of preconception care. Male healthcare providers [AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: (1.28, 3.95)], bachelor of science degree and above [AOR = 2.77, 95% CI: (1.40, 5.52)], medical doctors [AOR = 5.16, 95% CI: (1.60, 16.57)], midwives [AOR = 3.75, 95% CI: (1.52, 9.30)], urban extension workers [AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: (0.13, 0.89)], internet users [AOR = 2.73, 95% CI: (1.44, 5.20)], and access to a national preconception care protocol [AOR = 1.92, 95% CI: (1.07, 3.44)] were factors significantly associated with the level of knowledge on preconception care.
Conclusion: More than half of healthcare providers in Adama town public health facilities were knowledgeable about preconception care. Male healthcare providers, BSc degree holders, medical doctors, midwives, urban extension workers, internet users, and access to the national preconception care protocol were found to be significantly associated factors. The Regional Health Bureau and Ministry of Health should prepare comprehensive preconception care guidelines and provide learning opportunities for urban health extension workers and diploma health care providers to upgrade their education level and provide continuous pre-service and in-service training on preconception care for all health care providers.
Key words: Health care providers, knowledge, preconception care, public health institutions.
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