UTILIZATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MALARIA PREVENTION METHODS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN TERTIARY HOSPITAL SITUATED IN RURAL COMMUNITY OF EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Background: National surveys indicate that among countries in Africa where malaria is endemic, Nigeria alone accounts for 21% of pregnancies that are unprotected from malaria. This study aimed to ascertain the extent of utilization and effectiveness of malaria prevention methods, found out the existing relationship between maternal parasitaemia and the effectiveness of these methods at (p<0.05) level of signicance.Methods: The study was a cross sectional survey involving 264 consenting pregnant women who were recruited at booking clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido -Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to elicit information on their socio-demographic characteristics, mode and extent of utilization of malaria prevention methods and their effectiveness. Venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for malaria parasitaemia using the microscopy. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 Results:The malaria prevention methods most commonly reported as being effective were the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) or both, which were utilized by 97(36.5%), 79 (30.0%) and 88 (33.4%) participants respectively. Eight (8.3%), 9 (10.8%), and 7 (7.9%) of the participants that used ITNs, IRS or both combination respectively tested positive for malaria parasitaemia. There was a statistically signicant association between maternal parasitaemia and malaria prevention methods using ITNs (p=0.001), IRS (p = 0.001) or both (p = 0.001).Conclusion: The most commonly adopted malaria prevention methods were ITNs, Indoor Residual Spray or both. Despite their protective effectiveness, their utilizations are still poor. Information and communication strategies by the stakeholders are suggested to improve the utilization of these methods as adopted by other countries.