A Study To Assess The Tffectiveness Of Planned Teaching Programme (Ptp) On Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (Pcos) Among Adolescent Girls In Selected High Schools At Mangalore

Introduction

Puberty is a period of several years in which rapid physical growth and psychological changes occur, culminating in sexual maturity. It is important for both teen and for their family to understand what is happening to the teen physically, cognitively, and socially and what support resources are available^.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting about 6% of women of reproductive age, characterized by gynaecologic and endocrine symptoms including chronic an ovulation, infertility and hyperandrogenism.The prevalence of PCOS in the general population has been estimated to be 5-10% of women of reproductive age. In India 26,626,765 population is affected with polycystic ovarian disease. Even in developed country like USA, PCOS is a common problem and is one of the most prevalent endocrine system diseases, affecting as many as 7 to 10 out of 100 (or 7 to 10 percent) of women of childbearing age (15 to 45 years). Unfortunately, this disorder often goes undiagnosed because of its many baffling and seemingly unrelated symptoms. The highest reported prevalence of PCO is 52% among South Asian Women.

PCOS cannot only be on the radar of family and adult healthcare providers. There is growing evidence that PCOS is also a paediatric syndrome. Because some females reach menarche as early as 8-9 years, PCOS needs to be a topic of concern for health care providers early in a child or adolescent's reproductive health. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -2011, number of obese children in the U.S. has tripled since 1980.

PCOS is a frustrating experience for women, often complex for managing clinicians and is a scientific challenge for researchers. As research in PCOS is rapidly advancing, it is vital that research evidence is translated to knowledge and action among women, healthcare professionals and policy makers. Management should focus on support, education, addressing psychological factors and strongly emphasizing healthy lifestyle with targeted medical therapy as required. Treatment for the large majority is lifestyle focused, and an aggressive lifestyle-based multidisciplinary approach is optimal in most cases to manage the features of PCOS and prevent long-term complications

Nurses are in a critical position to provide comprehensive care to adolescents afflicted with the syndrome. Depending upon where these young females are encountered (in-patient hospital unit, school nurse's office, or outpatient clinic), the nurse's role and her approaches to care may be different. Regardless of the setting or role, essential elements of nursing practice should always include education and emotional support.

Though a wide scope of treatment is available for PCOS women in our society, they approach medical care only when they end-up with complication or the health problem interrupts their physical and psychological well being.

“Prevention is better than cure”. Therefore as a nurse, the researcher has a pivotal role in creating awareness among adolescents about the modification of lifestyle and prevention of future complications, which can help to improve the quality of life by providing education and support.

Methods

One group pre-test post-test research design used for the study .The population of the study were adolescent girl's between the age group of 14 to 16 years. Total 100 subjects were selected from St. Agnes and Gerosa English Mediun school by using convenient sampling. Data collection done on 9^th September 2011 and post-test on 16^th September 2011.Written permission was obtained from the concerned authorities before the data collection. and the investigator familiarized herself with her subjects and explained the purpose of the study to them. After giving necessary instructions to the subjects, the baseline information was collected. Pre-test knowledge level was assessed by using Structured Knowledge Questionnaire. Time taken for the Pre-test was 20 minutes. Immediately after the pre-test, PTP on PCOS was administered to the subjects. Post-test was conducted on the 7^th day using the same Structured Knowledge Questionnaire.

Results

Main findings are discussed under the following headings

1. Base line characteristics of the adolescent girls

The data in Table 4 shows that the mean Post-test knoweledge score (x₂=21.74) is higher than the mean pre-test knoweledge score (x 11.86). It is evident that the calculated 't' value (t =27.61) was greater than table value (t at 0.05 level=1.66). Hence the null hypothesis was rejected and the research hypothesis was accepted.The mean difference between pre-test and post-test knoweledge score was a true difference and not a chance. This indicates that PTP was effective in increasing the knoweledge of adeloscent girls.

The data presented in Table 6 shows computed paired 't' test values between the pre-test and post-test is higher than the table value (t=1.66,p<0.05). The data is statistically significant in all the areas. Hence it is inferred that the PTP was effective in increasing the knowledge of subjects regarding PCOS.

The above table shows that Chi-square test value computed between pre-test knowledge score and demographic variables was not significant at 0.05 levels. Therefore there is no association between knowledge score of subjects and above listed selected demographic variables. Hence null hypothesis is accepted and research hypothesis is rejected. Thus it is inferred that gain in knowledge score was due to the administration of PTP.

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Figure 1

Distribution of subjects according to their level of knowledge.

Export to PPT

Discussion:

The aim of the study was to develop and implement a PTP to improve the knowledge of adolescent girls on PCOS. This study findings revealed that the PTP is an one of the effective strategy to improve the knowledge of people. A similar study conducted in Udupi taluk to determine the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on environmental health showed the following findings , there is no association found between the pre-test knowledge score and baseline variable. The calculated Chi-square test values were 0.08, 3.37, 0.73, 2.33, which is less than the table value (²=3.841, ²=5.99) at 0.05 level. Hence null hypothesis is accepted and research hypothesis is rejected. Thus it is inferred that gain in knowledge score was due to the administration of PTP. The present study also showed that there is no association between the pre-test knowledge score of adolescent girls and demographic variables. The Chi-square test values were 0.164, 0.034, 0.117, 1.982, 0.935, which was less than the table value (² =3.84 , ² =5.99 ) at 0.05 level. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted and research hypothesis is rejected. Thus it is inferred that gain in knowledge score was due to the administration of PTP.

Conclusion

India is the second most populated country in the world with total population of over 1081 million. Adolescents (10-19 years) are living in diverse circumstances and have diverse health needs. Absence of friendly staff, working hours that are inconvenient to adolescents and lack of privacy and confidentiality have been identified as important barriers in accessing health services by adolescents and young people. The health sector needs to respond by offering services to adolescents in a friendly manner and in a non-threatening environment. The present study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of PTP on PCOS among adolescent girls in selected high schools at Mangalore.

After the administration of PTP the post-test measures showed that there was an overall gain in knowledge score, and significant increase in knowledge in the areas. Indeed it can be conclude that the PTP is effective strategy to improve the knowledge of the people.