Knowledge, attitude and current practices of pregnant women towards group B streptococcus screening: cross-sectional study, Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia

AIMS: Group B streptococcus (GBS) is one of the most frequent bacterial pathogens causing invasive infections in neonates. It can be transmitted from colonised mother to neonates around delivery. Screening strategies for GBS during pregnancy include either universal culture-based or risk-based screening. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and current practices of pregnant women towards GBS screening in Al-Madinah City, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Madinah Maternity and Children Hospital, Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia, from May to July 2018. Participants were recruited from postnatal wards. Participants were interviewed using a previously published validated survey that was divided into the following domains: demographic data, knowledge, experience and attitude towards different GBS screening strategies. RESULTS: A total of 377 out of 450 women (response rate 83.7%) were enrolled. The results showed that the overall mean knowledge score of the pregnant women towards GBS screening was 59.8%. Majority of the women (66.8%) were not aware of the GBS bacterium, while 86.5% of them had never been informed of GBS risk assessment during their pregnancies. The mean knowledge score among women who were aware of GBS (62.8%) was significantly higher than that among women who were not (58.4%) (p=0.015). However, majority of the pregnant women (61.8%) showed preference for universal culture-based GBS screening strategy over risk-based strategy. CONCLUSION: The study results have concluded that the level of awareness and knowledge about GBS among pregnant women were relatively poor; however, majority of the pregnant women prefer universal culture-based screening.