Comparing the effect of multimedia package training and group discussion on the life style of pregnant women in Gonabad city

One of the goals of the World Health Organization is to promote lifestyle in the community. Many risk factors can be counteracted through lifestyle correction. Having an appropriate teaching method as an intervention is of particular importance. In this regard, application of a suitable training method is of special priority as an intervention. On the other hand, lifestyle is of remarkable importance in pregnancy. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effect of group discussion and multimedia package training on the lifestyle of pregnant mothers.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 78 pregnant women referring to the health centers in Gonabad city, Iran in 2018. The subjects were randomly assigned to three groups of control, intervention with group discussion, and intervention with multimedia package. The data were collected using the demographic characteristics and standard Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II questionnaires. All the data were statistically described and analyzed by paired t-test and analysis of variance using SPSS software version 20. P

The subjects under study were pregnant women with the mean age of 27.9±5.7 years. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of lifestyle in the three groups pre-intervention (P>0.05). However, the three groups were significantly different post-intervention in terms of the mean lifestyle scores (P<0.05). It was revealed that the mean score of lifestyle in the group discussion intervention group was 168.53±21.56. Moreover, the mean scores were obtained as 144.77±19.8 and 144.08±21.23 for the control group and test group receiving multimedia package training, respectively.

According to the findings of this study, use of group discussion and multimedia package training method led to improved lifestyle score in pregnant women. Therefore, application of these methods is recommended for teaching lifestyle to the pregnant women.