490 The short-term effects of structured education on breast-feeding in a sample of students from Bjelovar

The GoalThe aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of structured education about breast-feeding using a sample of high-school students. The results presented in this study are part of the results of wider research, currently on-going, into the influence of structured education on breast-feeding on changes to the intentions, knowledge and attitudes of pupils and students.MethodsThe study was longitudinal, quasi-experimental, and approved by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia. The experimental group consisted of 30 students from the Medical High School in Bjelovar, and the control group consisted of 30 other students from the same school. The experimental group took a structured educational course on breast-feeding, and the control group did not. The attitudes, intentions and knowledge of the subjects were measured using a validated BIAKQ questionnaire. In both groups the questionnaire was conducted twice, with a two-week interval. The outcomes measured were the changes to the total results of the BIAKQ questionnaire and the sub-scales of the questionnaire. In processing the results, the following statistical procedures were used: presentation of the results by frequencies, percentages, arithmetic means and standard deviations, analysis of outliers and the normality of distribution of the results (Skewness and Kurtosis z values, Histogram, Q-Q diagram, Box diagram, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests), analysis of the differences between the results (t-test or the Mann-Whitney test and Wilcoxon test), and correlations are presented using Spearman’s correlation coefficient.ResultsBefore the educational course, in relation to intentions, attitudes, knowledge and the overall results of the questionnaire, there were no significant differences between the control and experimental groups. After the experimental group had taken the educational course, the subjects achieved better results in comparison to the control group in terms of their intentions (ME=38.03, SD=5.71, MK=35.27, SD=5.41, t(58)=1.76, p=0.08), attitudes (MdnE=35.52, MdnK=25.48, U=299.5, p=0.03). knowledge (MdnE=35.97, MdnK=25.03, U=286.0, p=0.01) and the total results of the questionnaire (MdnE=35.23, MdnK=25.77, U=308.0, p=0.04). The results of the subjects in the experimental group after the course were also better in relation to their own results before the course, in terms of their intentions (M=4.40, SD=5.61, t(29)=4.30, p=0.00), attitudes (M=13.40, SD=15.37, t(29)=4.77, p=0.00), knowledge (MdnPos=8.85, MdnNeg=9.5, Z=-1.883, p = 0.06) and total results (MdnPos=15.69, MdnNeg=9.0, Z=-4.121, p = 0.00). The greatest correlation in the total results of the questionnaire after the course were shown by attitudes (r=0.99, p=0.00), and the smallest by knowledge, before (r=0.39, p=0.04) and after (r=0.29, p=0.12) the educational course.ConclusionThe results confirm statistically significantly improved attitudes, intentions and knowledge regarding breast-feeding in the experimental group after taking the educational course. Earlier research by the author and research by other authors confirm that education that only brings about changes in knowledge does not necessarily also lead to changes in attitudes and intentions. Only a well-designed and structured model of education, with a multi-dimensional approach can lead to changes in attitudes and intentions, which are important predictors of behaviour. Further research is needed to define more precisely the age at which education gives the best results.