Effect of Anticipatory Guidance Presentation Methods on the Knowledge and Attitude of Pregnant Women Relative to Maternal, Infant and Toddler’s Oral Health Care

OBJECTIVE The prenatal period is the best time for health interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different methods of anticipatory guidance presentation on the change of knowledge and attitude of pregnant women regarding oral healthcare in the mother, infant and toddler. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this quasi-experimental study, 90 pregnant women attended one health center in Zahedan, Iran; they were divided into direct intervention, indirect intervention and control groups. A self-reported questionnaire was completed before intervention. The guidance was presented to the direct intervention group, by PowerPoint and to the indirect group by pamphlet. Immediately after the intervention, the questionnaire was completed by intervention groups and two months later by all participants. Difference in the scores at start and end was calculated. Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn's post hoc and Friedman with K-W post-hoc tests were used for statistical analysis. The data was analyzed using SPPS version 19 software at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS The change in scores of knowledge relevant to maternal, infant and toddler's oral health and attitude toward maternal oral healthcare had significant differences in the three studied groups (P>0.05), The changes of scores in the four mentioned variables in the intervention groups were significantly higher than controls. In comparison between the intervention groups, the change in score of knowledge about maternal oral healthcare was significantly higher in the direct intervention group (P=0.023). CONCLUSION Anticipatory guidance presentation led to change in the score of knowledge about maternal, infant and toddler's oral health and attitude towards maternal oral health in comparison to no presentation. The direct presentation had superiority over indirect in increasing knowledge about maternal oral healthcare.