Musa Omotosho Ibrahim, Salaudeen Ganiyu Adekumle, Jimoh Rabiu Olusegun
Dept of Epidemiology & Community Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
J Pak Med Assoc. 2009 Jun;59(6):354-8.
To determine the awareness, accessibility and use of ITN by pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic (ANC) at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level considering the Government commitment of ensuring that at least 60% of pregnant women benefit from ITN by year 2010.
This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in all 78 PHC centres in the state. Four hundred and fifty-five (455) pregnant women that consented to the study where interviewed during their ANC sessions using semi-structured questionnaires. Data entry and analysis was done on a micro computer; frequency tables and cross tabulations of important variables were done; and Chi-square test was used for the test of significance.
About one-third 164 (36%) of the respondents were aware of ITN in malaria prevention, but less than a third 124 (27%) had ever used it and only 88 (19%) were currently using it, while 104 (23%) of the total respondents had a member of their household using ITN. Some of the difficulties encountered or experienced by respondents currently using ITN were scarcity of new nets, difficulty in getting chemicals for re-treatment of nets, non availability of quality ITN for sale. Three hundred and thirty-one (73%) respondents have never used ITN before because of lack of awareness 136 (41%), price of ITN is too costly 26 (8%) and non-availability of ITN for purchase 67 (20%). Respondents' age, educational level, parity and source of information or awareness on ITN have no significant influence on ITN use (P > 0.05); however, the frequency of malaria attack among respondents using ITN was lower than those not using it and this was significant (P > 0.0043).
Awareness and utilization of ITN among pregnant women and their household members is still low despite Government policy of free ITN for vulnerable groups and subsidized nets for other people. There is need to focus on creating demand for ITNs through all available health information channels including social marketing.
鉴于政府承诺到2010年确保至少60%的孕妇受益于经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐(ITN),本研究旨在确定在初级卫生保健(PHC)层面参加产前诊所(ANC)的孕妇对ITN的知晓率、可及性和使用率。
本描述性横断面研究在该州所有78个初级卫生保健中心开展。455名同意参与研究的孕妇在其产前检查期间使用半结构化问卷接受访谈。数据录入和分析在微型计算机上进行;制作重要变量的频率表和交叉表;并使用卡方检验进行显著性检验。
约三分之一的164名(36%)受访者知晓ITN可预防疟疾,但不到三分之一的124名(27%)曾使用过ITN,目前仅有88名(19%)正在使用,而在全部受访者中,有104名(23%)的家庭成员使用过ITN。目前正在使用ITN的受访者遇到或经历的一些困难包括新蚊帐短缺、蚊帐再处理所需化学品难以获取、市场上无优质ITN出售。331名(73%)受访者此前从未使用过ITN,原因包括缺乏知晓(136名,41%)、ITN价格过高(26名,8%)以及无法购买到ITN(67名,20%)。受访者的年龄、教育水平、产次以及对ITN的信息来源或知晓途径对ITN的使用无显著影响(P>0.05);然而,使用ITN的受访者疟疾发作频率低于未使用者,且具有显著性差异(P>0.0043)。
尽管政府有针对弱势群体免费提供ITN以及为其他人提供补贴蚊帐的政策,但孕妇及其家庭成员对ITN的知晓率和使用率仍然较低。有必要通过包括社会营销在内的所有可用健康信息渠道,着重创造对ITN的需求。