Effect of flexible patterns of health education on enhancing the compliance of pregnant women from Tibet, China

Prenatal examination is a pivotal measure to prevent high-risk pregnancy and to ensure the safety of both mother and infant. However, pregnant women in Linzhi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) often cannot obtain regular prenatal examinations due to limited accessibility of healthcare facilities, shortage of medical staff, and lack of medical equipment. Health education is an important approach to solve this ever-growing issue of pregnant women in rural Tibet. To evaluate the efficacy of flexible methods of health education programs on improving compliance among pregnant women from Tibet, China. In May to November of 2018, a total of 168 pregnant women receiving prenatal examination in a tertiary referral hospital in Linzhi Prefecture were recruited and randomly assigned to a control (n = 85) and intervention group (n = 83). All pregnant women were followed up until delivery. The pregnant women in the control group received regular prenatal examination and health education programs. Other than receiving routine prenatal care, participants of the interventional group also voluntarily joined the WeChat Social Messaging platform. Online resources posted by the maternity schools provided convenience and flexibility for the pregnant woman. The number of prenatal examinations was statistically significant between the 2 groups. The effect of flexible patterns of health education programs on improving the compliance of pregnant women in Tibet was assessed. The number of prenatal examinations in the intervention group was 2.646 times, which was higher than that in the control group (P < .01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that interventional measures and ethnicity were the influencing factors of the number of prenatal examinations for pregnant women in Linzhi after the adjustment of age, history of adverse pregnancy, education level, ethnicity, multiparity, gestational complications, and medical history. The number of prenatal examinations for the pregnant Tibetan women was 0.535 times lower compared with that of the pregnant Han women (95% CI: –0.089, 1.157, P = .091). Flexible forms of health education during the antenatal period can effectively increase the compliance of pregnant women in Tibet.