Investigating the Relationship Between Breastfeeding Duration and Health Literacy in Primiparous Women Referring to Tehran Health Centers: An Application of Bayesian Poisson Regression Model

Breast milk is an ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants. Breastfeeding is associated with benefits of lifelong health for both infants and mothers. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting breastfeeding duration in primiparous women referring to Tehran health centers.

In this analytical study, the population consisted of primiparous women of reproductive age who referred to Tehran health centers in 2015-2016 having a child aged 2-5 years. Data were collected by a questionnaire for measuring the level of Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) in the urban population, a Socio-Economic Status (SES) questionnaire and interviews with mothers. Statistical analysis was done using Bayesian Poisson regression model and OpenBUGS software.

In the present study, the minimum and maximum of breastfeeding duration were one and 24 months respectively, and the median duration of breastfeeding was 20 months. Also, exclusive breastfeeding was reported at 50.5%. The variables age of mother (CI 95%: -0.01, -0.008), health literacy score (CI 95%: 0.01, 0.02) and the first-time breastfeeding more than one hour after birth (CI 95%: -0.34, -0.04) had significant relationship with breastfeeding duration.

The health literacy score, the age of mother and the first-time breastfeeding more than one hour after birth had a significant relationship with breastfeeding duration. Therefore, considering the importance of the effect of maternal health literacy on breastfeeding, it is suggested that mothers of prepregnancy have the ability to obtain a high score of health literacy