Survey on medication information literacy and influencing factors among pregnant Chinese women

Effectiveness of a Web-Based Medication Education Course on Pregnant Women's Medication Information Literacy and Decision Self-Efficacy: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Medication-related adverse events are common in pregnant women, and most are due to misunderstanding medication information. The identification of appropriate medication information sources requires adequate medical information literacy (MIL). It is important for pregnant women to comprehensively evaluate the risk of medication treatment, self-monitor their medication response, and actively participate in decision-making to reduce medication-related adverse events.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a medication education course on a web-based platform in improving pregnant women's MIL and decision self-efficacy.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Pregnant women were recruited from January to June 2021 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a large hospital in a major city in central China. A total of 108 participants were randomly divided into a control group (CG), which received routine prenatal care from nurses and physicians, and an intervention group (IG), which received an additional 3-week web-based medication education course based on the theory of planned behavior as part of routine prenatal care. Participants completed a Medication Information Literacy Scale and a decision self-efficacy questionnaire at baseline, upon completion of the intervention, and at a 4-week follow-up. Generalized estimation equations (GEE) were used to analyze the main effect (time and grouping) and interaction effect (grouping×time) of the 2 outcomes. The CONSORT-EHEALTH (V 1.6.1) checklist was used to guide the reporting of this randomized controlled trial.

RESULTS

A total of 91 pregnant women (48 in the IG and 43 in the CG) completed the questionnaires at the 3 time points. The results of GEE indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in time×group interactions of MIL between the 2 groups (F2=3.12; P=.21). The results of the main effect analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in MIL between the 2 groups at T1 and T2 (F1=17.79; P<.001). Moreover, the results of GEE indicated that there was a significant difference in decision self-efficacy regarding the time factor, grouping factor, and time×group interactions (F2=21.98; P<.001). The results of the simple effect analysis indicated a statistically significant difference in decision self-efficacy between the 2 groups at T1 (F1=36.29; P<.001) and T2 (F1=36.27; P<.001) compared to T0. Results showed that MIL and decision self-efficacy in the IG were found to be significantly higher than those in the CG (d=0.81; P<.001 and d=1.26; P<.001, respectively), and they remained significantly improved at the 4-week follow-up (d=0.59; P<.001 and d=1.27; P<.001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Web-based medication education courses based on the theory of planned behavior can effectively improve pregnant women's MIL and decision self-efficacy, and they can be used as supplementary education during routine prenatal care.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100041817; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=66685.

Patterns of information literacy and their predictors among emergency department nurses: a latent profile analysis based on the person-context interaction theory

BACKGROUND

With the development of information technology, information has been an important resource in clinical medicine, particularly within the emergency department. Given its role in patient rescue, the emergency department demands a high level of information literacy from nurses to effectively collect, analyze, and apply information due to the urgency and complexity of emergency nursing work. Although prior studies have investigated the information literacy of nursing staff, little has been undertaken in examining the patterns of information literacy and their predictors among emergency department nurses.

AIM

To clarify the subtypes of information literacy among nurses in the emergency department and explore the factors affecting profile membership.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience sample of 2490 nurses in the emergency department from April to June 2023. The clinical nurses completed the online self-report questionnaires including the general demographic questionnaire, information literacy scale, self-efficacy scale and social support scale. Data analyses involved the latent profile analysis, variance analysis, Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

Four latent profiles were identified: 'Low information literacy (Class 1)', 'Moderate information knowledge (Class 2)', 'High information knowledge and support (Class 3)' and 'High information literacy (Class 4)', accounting for 20.14%, 42.11%, 23.36% and 14.39%, respectively. Each profile displayed unique characteristics representative of different information literacy patterns. Age, years of work, place of residence, hospital grade, title, professional knowledge, using databases, reading medical literature, participating in information literacy training, self-efficacy, and social support significantly predicted information literacy profile membership.

CONCLUSIONS

Information literacy exhibits different classification features among emergency department nurses, and over half of the nurses surveyed were at the lower or middle level. Identifying sociodemographic and internal-external predictors of profile membership can aid in developing targeted interventions tailored to the needs of emergency department nurses. Nursing managers should actively pay attention to nurses with low information literacy and provide support to improve their information literacy level.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Insights from the current study of the latent profile analysis are beneficial to hospital managers in understanding the different types of emergency department nurses' information literacy. These insights serve as a reference for managers to enhance nurses' information literacy levels.

Construction and application on the training course of information literacy for clinical nurses

DESIGN

A two-round Delphi survey was conducted to seek opinions from experts about the index system for the evaluation of training courses of clinical nursing staff's information literacy. Besides, a non-randomized controlled experimental study was adopted to check the application effect of the training courses.

AIMS

This study intended to construct a training course of information literacy for clinical nurses, train nurses in order to improve their information literacy level and provide theoretical reference for the training of information literacy courses for clinical nurses.

METHODS

Two rounds of Delphi study were conducted for the study among 26 clinical medical and nursing experts as well as educational experts from 5 different provinces and cities in China. From July 2022 to October 2022, a total of 84 clinical nurses from two hospitals were selected by the convenience sampling method, of which the nurses in one hospital were the control group and the nurses in the other hospital were the observation group. 42 nurses in the observation group were trained by the constructed information literacy training course. Questionnaire evaluation was used to compare the differences in the level of information literacy of nurses and the training effect between the two groups.

RESULTS

The results of the Delphi consultation showed that the expert's judgment coefficient was 0.958, the expert's familiarity was 0.946, and the expert's authority coefficient was 0.952. Finally, a training course of information literacy for clinical nurses with 4 course categories and 45 specific course contents was formed. Among them, nursing information awareness included 7 courses, nursing information knowledge 15 courses, nursing information ability 19 courses, and nursing information ethics 4 courses. The results of the empirical study showed that the information literacy level of the nurses in the observation group after the training of the information literacy course was improved, and the scores in nursing information awareness, nursing information knowledge, nursing information ability, and information ethics were significantly higher than those in the control group after training (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The constructed information literacy training courses for clinical nurses were clearly targeted and systematic. Empirical research showed that the course contents were scientific and reasonable, which could provide reference for the training of clinical nurses' information literacy.

Psychometric properties and validation of the revised Chinese Medication Literacy Scale for Hypertensive Patients (C-MLSHP-R)

Background

Medication literacy is one of the key indicators that can affect the self-management of medications and medication safety. This study aimed to revise the Chinese Medication Literacy Scale for hypertensive patients (C-MLSHP) and test the reliability and validity of the revised scale.

Methods

We revised the C-MLSHP by several methods, i.e., focus group discussion, expert consultation, patient interview, and pilot study, based on the established evaluation index system of medication literacy for hypertensive patients. Then, a formal survey using the revised Chinese Medication Literacy Scale for hypertensive patients (C-MLSHP-R) was carried out on hypertensive patients from hospitals and community healthcare centers in Changsha city of China to test its reliability and validity. The reliability was evaluated with Cronbach's α coefficient, split-half reliability, and test–retest reliability. The validity was evaluated with content validity, construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity.

Results

The C-MLSHP-R contained 18 items within four domains, i.e., the knowledge domain included four items, the attitude domain had three items, the skill domain involved seven items, and the practice domain included four items. A total of 339 hypertensive patients participated in the formal survey. The results showed that the Cronbach's α coefficient of C-MLSHP-R was 0.802, and for each domain ranged from 0.639 to 0.815. The split-half reliability coefficient of C-MLSHP-R was 0.709, and for each domain ranged from 0.648 to 0.792. The test–retest reliability coefficient of C-MLSHP-R was 0.851, and for each domain ranged from 0.655 to 0.857. The I-CVI of each item ranged from 0.833 to 1.000, the S-CVI/Ave of C-MLSHP-R was 0.981, the S-CVI/UA was 0.889, and for each domain ranged from 0.958 to 1.000. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the model fitted well. The convergent validity of C-MLSHP-R was acceptable, and the discriminant validity was good. The criterion coefficient between C-MLSHP-R and C-MLSHP was 0.797, and for each domain ranged from 0.609 to 0.755.

Conclusion

Compared with C-MLSHP, the C-MLSHP-R with 18 items was much shorter for measuring, and had decreased reliability within the acceptable range and better validity, which was more appropriate and time-saving to assess the medication literacy level for hypertensive patients scientifically and conveniently.

Knowledge regarding teratogens among women of childbearing age at a large tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia

AIM

To investigate the knowledge of Saudi women regarding the teratogenic effects of environmental agents such as fever, some chronic conditions and medications and its association with certain socio-demographic factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey based cross-sectional study was conducted on 315 Saudi women of childbearing age visiting OB/GYN clinics at a large tertiary care centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Knowledge of subjects on teratogenic risk of common entities was measured and nonparametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to associate knowledge score with various predictors.

RESULTS

The response rate was 75%. Most of the participants were between 28 and 37 years. Knowledge on teratogenic risk was generally poor with specifically higher knowledge regarding insulin intake and isotretinoin. Older age, higher education, being employed, and having a high monthly income were significantly associated with a higher knowledge score (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Women's knowledge regarding teratogenic risks is crucial in ensuring a safe pregnancy and a healthy fetus. Our study revealed inadequate knowledge of teratogens among the participants which implies an urgent need to increase awareness of mothers regarding the harmful effects of common teratogens.