Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy Through Health Education Intervention Programs on Insecticide-Treated Nets: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract Malaria is a widespread and persistent disease that affects human population globally, particularly in tropical countries. Malaria is a major health issue in sub-Saharan Africa and it contributes to morbidity and mortality among individuals in Africa. Pregnant women have been also reported as high risk of people been infected with malaria. This review attempted to evaluate the various methods used for health education programs and the effectiveness of the programs in improving ITNs, LLINS utilizationamong pregnant women. Methods: The search involved various databases; EBCOHOST, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane library, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SAGE, Sringer link, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library. It was limited to full text research articles that report intervention studies, written in English Language, published between 2003 to 2022. The key words were “malaria”, “malaria prevention”, “health education”, “insecticide-treated nets”, “utilization”, “pregnant women”. Results: A total of eleven articles met the inclusion criteria and included in the review. Six studies reported randomized controlled trial (RCTs) while five studies reported non-randomized controlled trial (NRCT). Conclusions: There are evidences that health education programs improve ITNs, LLINS utilizationamong pregnant women. Furthermore, additional interventions directed at significant others need to be implemented, considering the important role they play in determining pregnant women’s use of ITNs, LLINs.