Background: Malaria infection in pregnancy is a major risk factor for maternal and child death, and substantially increases the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and low birthweight. The aim of this study therefore is to assess the prevalence and determinants of Intermittent preventive treatment of Malaria [IPTp] utilization by pregnant women in a rural town in Western Nigeria.
Methods: This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. All pregnant women that were due for delivery and were attending the three primary health care center in Sagamu town, Nigeria within a 2 months period were recruited into the study. A semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information.
Results: A total of 255 pregnant women were recruited into the study. The mean age of respondents was 28.07 ± 5.12 years. The mean parity and booking age was 2.7 ± 1.67 and 4.42 ± 1.7 months respectively. The prevalence of Malaria attack in the last 3 months was 122(47.8%). Only 107/255 (40.4%) practice IPTp for malaria prevention during the current pregnancy, with only 14.6% of them taking the second dose during pregnancy as recommended. Chloroquine [27.1%] was the most frequently used medication for the treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy. Early booking age [OR = 1.11, C.I = 0.61-2.01], adverse last pregnancy outcome [OR = 1.23, C.I = 0.36-4.22], and parity [OR = 1.87, C.I = 0.25-16.09] were not statistically significantly associated with IPTp utilization. The only predictor of IPTp use was the knowledge of prophylaxis for malaria prevention [OR = 2.47, C.I = 1.06-3.52] using multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: The study concludes that most women who attend ANC in rural areas in Nigeria do not receive IPTp as expected. A major determinant of utilization of IPTp among the study population was the knowledge of prophylaxis for malaria prevention. This study highlights the importance of health education of the pregnant women in increasing IPTp uptake despite the regular drug stock out at the facility level in rural areas in low resource countries.