Determinants of Use of Insecticide-Treated Nets Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic at Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojuekwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH)
- Post by: airjournal
- August 12, 2022
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One of the major health issues in Nigeria is malaria which accounts for about 33% cause of death in pregnant women. Although huge efforts have been made for pregnant women to have and use insecticide-treated nets (IGM), reports have indicated that the number of women using the IGM in Anambra State, South east, Nigeria, is still low. This study was conducted to identify facilitators and inhibitors for the use of ITM/Long Lasting insecticide net (LLIM) among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Chukwuwemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital.
This study was cross-sectional study of pregnant women attending Antenatal clinic at COOUTH, Amaku, Awka, Anambra State. The sample size was 850, Data were collected between 10th October 2021 and 20th October 2021. For the analysis, a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used.
The total percentage of respondent that has net is 93.2%, those who were confident they can hang or use a net is 82.6%, 64.6% of the respondent owned an ITM (LLIM in their household while 19.2% actually used it), about 70% of the respondent were neither educated nor had a primary school education and 73.2% of them were based in rural locations. Data from the study showed that; Location (Urban-rural), confidence to use a net, education and the knowledge that a pregnant woman can be protected from malaria by using net significant at 5% level. Compared to those who cannot confidently hang a net or use it, pregnant women who knows were 10 times more likely to use a net and those who have the knowledge that using an ITN/LLIM can protect them during pregnancy were about two times more likely to use than those who didn’t have the knowledge. Marital status, age, the length of time the net is owned and number of nets owned per household, had no significance on the use of net.
Using a net can facilitate it’s use but generally, owning a net does not mean one is using it. It showed in this study as households owning multiple ITN/LLIN was not significant in the usage of ITN/LLIM by pregnant women and neither was the time frame the net has been owned. Therefore, distributing multiple nets to households might not facilitate the usage of the nets. It is recommended that there will be massive sensitization on the usage of treated nets. Also, teaching pregnant women to hang, use nets and the benefits of using nets will likely improve the use of ITN among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic.
Keywords: Insecticide-Treated Nets | Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets | Pregnant Women |Antenatal Clinic
Authorship: Eyisi, I. G., Eyisi, C. S. and Akabuike, J. | FULL PDF