001). Regression analysis revealed that external locus of control and coping by accepting Ilomastat cost responsibility accounted for 67% of the variance in parenting stress. Other styles of coping, child behaviour problems and the amount of time since diagnosis were not found to be predictive of levels of parenting stress.
Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of parenting stress in caregivers of children with a brain tumour. An external locus of control and coping by accepting responsibility increased the likelihood of elevated
levels of stress. Results emphasised the importance of ongoing support for parents of children with brain tumours. Intervention might helpfully be centred on strategies to increase parents’ internal locus of control. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.”
“Background: Malaria in pregnancy is associated with increased risks of maternal and foetal complications. Currently, intermittent
preventive treatment (IPT) of malaria during pregnancy with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended by the WHO as part of a package of interventions also including insecticide-treated nets and effective case management. However, with increasing resistance to SP, the effectiveness of SP-IPT has been questioned. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) selleck inhibitor to investigate the relative efficacy of an alternative strategy of intermittent screening and treatment (IST), which involves a rapid diagnostic test for malaria at scheduled ANC visits and treatment of women only BAY 80-6946 if positive, versus SP-IPT has been conducted in Ashanti region, Ghana. This paper reports on a complementary study investigating the acceptability of the different strategies to women enrolled in the trial.
Methods:
Data were collected through twelve focus group discussions with women selected at random from the different arms of the RCT, exploring their experiences and perceptions about antenatal care and their involvement in the trial. Content analysis was used to identify relevant themes to structure the results.
Results: Five main themes emerged from participants’ experiences of ANC and the RCT that would influence their acceptability of malaria prevention strategies during pregnancy: health benefits; drugs received; tests received; other services received; and health worker attitude. Their own health and that of their baby were strong motivations for attending ANC, and reported favourably as an outcome of being in the RCT. Women were not always clear on the biomedical function of drugs or blood tests but generally accepted them due to strong trust in the health staff. Home visits by staff and free ITNs as part of the trial were appreciated. Politeness and patience of health staff was a very strong positive factor.
Conclusions: Overall, both intermittent screening and treatment and intermittent preventive treatment appeared equally acceptable to pregnant women as strategies for the control of malaria in pregnancy.