Level of Awareness of Post Partum Mothers on

Newborn Screening Essays

RESEARCH
TITLE:
Level of Awareness of Post-partum Mothers on Newborn Screening in Different
Hospitals in Roxas City
CHAPTER
I:
INTRODUCTION
I.A.
Background
and
Rationale
of
the
Study
1) Mothers always wanted the best for their babies. In any way they will do everything
for their childrens protection. Most of the post-partum mothers are not aware what
newborn screening is for. They thought that it is just a part of routine hospital admission.
They are not even aware of what possible diseases it may detect. 2)Mothers are
expected to have a full knowledge and awareness of what has done to their
babies. This is to ensure that they will know and understand their babies condition. If
ever there are disorders detected they will know that they must seek medical attention
for further assessment whether the baby is sick or appears to be healthy. On the
contrary, most of the mothers are unaware or doesnt have any idea what Newborn
Screening is for. 3)There are many possible reasons why some of the mothers are still
unaware of what is the purpose of Newborn Screening. First is the mothers age,
second is their mental status, third is their number of children, fourth is their socioeconomic status and fifth is their educational level. 4) It was found that women were
aware of newborn screening, however desired further information in order to acquire a
more comprehensive knowledge of the test. Further, New mothers need to be provided
with comprehensive information about the newborn screening test at a time which is
conducive for the assimilation of this information.
5)Mothers who have multiple children are not yet studied whether they have more
knowledge and awareness compared to new mothers. I.B. Objectives of the Study
GENERAL
OBJECTIVE:
This study will be conducted to determine the level of awareness of post-partum
mothers on newborn screening in different hospitals in Roxas City.
Specifically,
the
study
aims
to:
1)determine the personal characteristics of post-partum mothers in terms of age,
monthly income, educational level, marital status and number of children. 2)determine
the level of awareness of post-partum mothers on newborn screening. 3)determine
whether there is a significant relationship between the personal characteristics of postpartum mothers in terms of age, monthly income, educational level, marital status,
number of children and level of awareness on Newborn Screening. I.C Theoretical
Framework and Conceptual

PARADIGM:
Independent
VariableDependent
Variable
I.D.
Operational
Definition
of
Variables
and
Other
Terms
1.AGE. This refers to the length of time a person has lived since he / she was born. In
this study it refers to the age of a respondent on his/ her last birthday. 2.EDUCATIONAL
LEVEL / ATTAINMENT. This refers to the highest grade / year completed by the
respondent. 3.MENTAL STATUS. In this study it refers whether the respondent is
married or single. 4.MONTHLY INCOME. This refers to the amount of money that a
person gains every month. In this study it refers to the income of the. 5.LEVEL OF
AWARENESS ABOUT NEWBORN SCREENING. This is represented by the total
number of correct answers in 10-item questionnaire about Newborn Screening and its
detected disorders.
I.E Significance/ Importance of the Study
I.F Scope and Limitation of the Study
CHAPTER
II:
RELATED
LITERATURE
Newborn screening is a form of preventive health care in which babies are tested within
the first days of their life to discover evidence of diseases for which the principal
symptoms may not yet be apparent. In order for screening to be successful a simple
and reliable test must exist. Also, there must be a treatment that makes a difference
when the disease is detected early. Screened diseases are varied; they may be genetic,
endocrinologic, metabolic or hematologic. What they all have in common is that without
timely treatment they will cause severe harm to the child. Unlike treatment-based health
care processes, newborn screening is population-based. This means that tests are not
applied just to babies that are sick, but to all babies, including the vast majority, who will
appear to be completely healthy. A screening test is intended to reveal whether a baby
is more likely than other babies to have a disorder. It does not provide the information
that a baby definitely has a disorder. If a screening test shows an abnormal result, then
diagnostic testing is needed in order to confirm the presence of a disease. It is important
to recognize that the newborn screening process involves far more than just the
screening test. The institution of a program requires that systems are in place for the
efficient collection of samples from all newborns, for the reporting of results and
possible recall of a child for diagnostic testing. Most important, a system must be in
place to ensure that babies with confirmed disorders receive the timely treatment that
they require. In the words of Dr.
Harry Hannon, former Chief of the Newborn Screening Branch, with Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Newborn screening is critical to ensuring that
we dont have unnecessary suffering by parents and newborns and that we prevent as
many adverse outcomes of the disorders as possible and give the affected children as
close to the natural life that they would have expected without the disorder as possible.
While reducing suffering is a natural objective for all health professionals, investment in

preventive care yields significant savings when the total cost of a screening program is
compared to the cost of providing lifetime care and support for people whose diseases
could have been effectively treated had they been detected sufficiently early. (Guthrie R,
Susi A (1963) A simple Phenylalanine method for detecting Phenylketonuria in large
populations of newborn infants. Pediatrics 32: 338-43) The history of newborn screening
began in the early 20th century when the British physician and pioneer in medical
genetics, Sir Archibald Garrod used the term, inborn error of metabolism as the title for
his 1908 Croonian lecture before the Royal college of Physicians in London. The four
inborn errors of metabolism that he considered were albinism, alkaptonuria, pentosuria,
and cystinuria. Working only a few years after the rediscovery of Mendels work, Garrod
had established that a problem in a specific biochemical pathway was connected with
gene mutation. (Blood collection on Filter Paper for Newborn Screening Programs;
Approved Standard-Fifth Edition. CLSI document LA4-A5 (ISBN 1-56238-644-1) For
several decades the genetic blood screening of newborns to detect inborn errors of
metabolism has been recognized as a valuable component of neonatal care in many
developed countries around the world.
The early detection of these disorders has proven an effective means by which
interventions can be implemented to significantly reduce morbidity, mortality and
associated disabilities. Publicly funded newborn screening programs have been
operating in Australia since 1964, and although participation is entirely voluntary, there
is high public participation in most programs, enabling them to be cost effective.
Ascertaining the views of the community, and parents in particular, about the retention
and use of newborn blood samples forms a critical component of the development of
any policy in this area. Such studies are a growing area of investigation within the
psychology of newborn screening, although not yet explored extensively. To date these
studies have targeted the parents levels of knowledge about the programs and any
psychosocial issues related to the provision of positive test results for particular
disorders. It is reasonable to anticipate that the attitudes of parents whose child has
been diagnosed through newborn screening may be different from those parents whose
child was found not to have an inborn error of metabolism or from the community in
general. Although several factors influence parental views about newborn screening,
parents have been found to be generally supportive of newborn screening programs,
even in the case where false positive test results have been given.
Positive attitudes are not necessarily contingent upon adequate knowledge of
screening, as there is substantial evidence suggesting that parents often have limited
knowledge of which disorders are tested for, the effects of the disorders and the
treatments available. Many new mothers are not even aware of the test being
performed on their child. Further, a recent study has found that parents in the United
States are not well informed about the storage of cards, or their potential uses, and only
five percent of educational materials aimed at informing parents about newborn
screening actually address these issues. Although data regarding attitudes towards
storage and use of newborn screening samples is limited, Gustafsson Stolt et al (2002)
report their respondents expressing concern about the storage of material and the right
to be informed of any screening or project results. (Genomics, Society and Policy, Vol.1

No.3 (2005) ISSN:

www.gspjournal.com )

1746-5354

CESAGen,

Lancaster

University,

UK.

METHODOLOGY
A.Research
Design
The research design that will be employed is descriptive-correlational in which it will
investigate if there is a significant relationship between the personal characteristics of
post-partum mothers in terms of age, monthly income, educational level, marital status,
number of children and level of awareness on Newborn Screening. B.Target Population
and Sampling Procedures
Population:
40
post-partum
mothers
Sampling
Frame:
A
list
of
names
of
eligible
patients
Sampling
Unit:
post-partum
mothers
The sampling procedure that we will be using is accidental sampling method wherein
we will be giving out questionnaires on those available post-partum mothers. C.Data
Collection
In collecting data, a dichotomous self-administered questionnaire will be used as an
instrument. It will be distributed to the respondents wherein they will answer yes or no
questions to have a quantitative data about their level of awareness. D.Data Processing
and Data Analysis Plan
We will be using a simple linear correlation (pearson r) in analyzing the data collected. It
is a measure of the degree to which two variables vary together, or a measure of the
intensity of the association between two variables.