Knowledge, attitude, perception of malaria and evaluation of malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic in metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria

• Main Author: N.C. Iriemenam, A.O. Dosunmu, W.A. Oyibo & A.F. Fagbenro-Beyioku
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2011-03-01
• Series: Journal of Vector Borne Diseases
• Subjects: Attitude; awareness; knowledge; malaria control; practice; pregnancy
• Online Access: http://www.mrcindia.org/journal/issues/481012.pdf

Background & objectives: Little information exists on the compliance of pregnant women to malaria managementin malaria endemic countries. This study was designed to access knowledge, attitude, perception and homemanagement of malaria among consenting pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) clinic.Methods: In total, 350 pregnant women were randomly recruited during their ANC Clinic in Lagos. Structuredquestionnaires were administered in a two-stages research design; first during their early months of ANC visitand the second approximately 1–2 months before delivery. Information on occupation, parity, symptoms used torecognise malaria, treatment sources, control measures, knowledge factors, anti-vector measures, health-seekingpractices, malaria parasitaemia and packed cell volume (PCV) were recorded.Results: The results revealed that 78.9% of the pregnant women identified infected mosquitoes as the cause ofmalaria while 86% of the pregnant women identified stagnant water as its breeding sites. Knowledge of thebenefit of insecticide-treated mosquito bednets was less prominent as most of the selected subjects decried itshigh market price. Our data also showed that educational programme targeted on potential mothers is beneficial.Overall, 27.4% (96/350) of the pregnant women had peripheral malaria infection with 88.5% (85/96) of theparasite positive women infected with Plasmodium falciparum and 11.5% (11/96) with P. malariae. PCV rangedfrom 20–40% (median 33.9%) with 25.7% (90/350) of the pregnant women being anaemic with PCV <33%. Wefound an association between malaria infection and occupation, and this association was not influenced byparity.Interpretation & conclusion: Our findings revealed that improvement in knowledge and education of women ofchild-bearing age has an influential impact on malaria control