Comparative study to assess the knowledge of episiotomy among midwifery and nursing students in Lafia North-central Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Episiotomy is the surgical incision-that cuts the vaginal mucosa superficial perineal muscle-and a few fibers of the levator ani (The muscle of the pelvic floor-and-the-anterior fascicles hold both-sides of the urethra. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of episiotomy among midwifery and nursing students; and to compare their levels of Knowledge. And to find-out-the-statistically significant association-between their levels of knowledge-of and their-selected socio-demographic-variables. Materials and Methods: Descriptive comparative survey design-was used for-the-study. Stratified-sampling-technique was used to select-50 (29 and 21) midwifery and nursing students in Nasarawa-State College of Nursing Sciences-Lafia, North-Central, Nigeria. Results: The results-showed-that, majority of the midwifery and nursing students had average knowledge of episiotomy which accounted for 52.38%, and 48.28% respectively. In comparison of levels of knowledge of episiotomy, midwifery students had higher level of knowledge than nursing students. And there-was statistically significant-association-between midwifery-students’ levels of knowledge-of episiotomy-and their-selected socio-demographic variables such as age with-Chi-Square-16.629 and-P-value of-0.011, and previous-knowledge of episiotomy-with Chi-Square-10.039 and P-value-of 0.007. Conclusion: In conclusion, recommendation-was-given to conduct-a-similar study in different setting-using large sample-for generalization of the findings.