Pregnant women and listeriosis: preferred educational messages and delivery mechanisms.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize pregnant women's food safety practices, to evaluate the impact of existing educational messages on the risks and prevention of listeriosis, and to identify preferred delivery methods for educational initiatives.


METHODS
Eight focus group discussions conducted with pregnant women in 4 locations.


METHODS
Focus group discussions led by moderators using a prepared moderator guide.


METHODS
Purposeful sampling was used to select the 63 pregnant women who participated in this study. The focus groups were segmented by location and education level.


METHODS
Food safety knowledge and food-handling practices, food safety practices during pregnancy, attitudes toward listeriosis brochure, and preferred delivery methods.


METHODS
Focus group discussions were videotaped and audiorecorded. Detailed summaries of each discussion were prepared and systematically analyzed to identify common themes within and across groups.


RESULTS
Participants were not aware of the risks of listeriosis and recommended practices for listeriosis prevention; thus, they were not taking precautions during their pregnancy to prevent listeriosis.


CONCLUSIONS
The study identified the need to develop educational materials on listeriosis targeted specifically to pregnant women and to partner with obstetricians and other health care providers to deliver these materials to pregnant women.
Cates
Sheryl C
SC
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA. scc@rti.org
Carter-Young
Heather L
HL
Conley
Susan
S
O'Brien
Barbara
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors