Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Muni University, Arua, Uganda.
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Muni University, Arua, Uganda.
PLoS One. 2023 Apr 5;18(4):e0283755. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283755. eCollection 2023.
Malaria in pregnancy contributes to substantial morbidity and mortality among women in Uganda. However, there is limited information on the prevalence and factors associated with malaria in pregnancy among women in Arua district, northwestern Uganda. We, therefore, assessed the prevalence and factors associated with malaria in pregnancy among women attending routine antenatal care (ANC) clinics at Arua regional referral hospital in north-western Uganda.
We conducted an analytic cross-sectional study between October and December 2021. We used a paper-based structured questionnaire to collect data on maternal socio-demographic and obstetric factors and malaria preventive measures. Malaria in pregnancy was defined as a positive rapid malarial antigen test during ANC visits. We performed a modified Poisson regression analysis with robust standard errors to determine factors independently associated with malaria in pregnancy, reported as adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
We studied 238 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.32±5.79 years that attended the ANC clinic, all without symptomatic malaria. Of the participants, 173 (72.7%) were in their second or third trimester, 117 (49.2%) were first or second-time pregnant women, and 212 (89.1%) reported sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) every day. The prevalence of malaria in pregnancy was 26.1% (62/238) by rapid diagnostic testing (RDT), with the independently associated factors being daily use of insecticide-treated bednets (aPR 0.41, 95% CI 0.28, 0.62), first ANC visit after 12 weeks of gestation (aPR1.78, 95% CI 1.05, 3.03), and being in the second or third trimester (aPR 0.45, 95% CI 0.26, 0.76).
The prevalence of malaria in pregnancy among women attending ANC in this setting is high. We recommend the provision of insecticide-treated bednets to all pregnant women and early ANC attendance to enable access to malaria preventive therapy and related interventions.
在乌干达，疟疾会导致孕妇出现大量的疾病和死亡。然而，在乌干达西北部阿鲁阿地区，有关孕妇疟疾的患病率和相关因素的信息有限。因此，我们评估了在乌干达西北部阿鲁阿地区区域转诊医院常规产前护理（ANC）诊所就诊的孕妇中疟疾的患病率和相关因素。
我们在 2021 年 10 月至 12 月期间进行了一项分析性横断面研究。我们使用纸质结构化问卷收集了产妇社会人口学和产科因素以及疟疾预防措施的数据。孕妇疟疾定义为 ANC 就诊时快速疟原抗原检测阳性。我们采用修正泊松回归分析和稳健标准误差来确定与孕妇疟疾独立相关的因素，以调整后的患病率比（aPR）和 95%置信区间（CI）表示。
我们研究了 238 名平均年龄为 25.32±5.79 岁的孕妇，她们都没有出现症状性疟疾。在参与者中，173 名（72.7%）处于第二或第三孕期，117 名（49.2%）是首次或第二次怀孕，212 名（89.1%）报告每天都在使用经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐（ITN）。快速诊断检测（RDT）的孕妇疟疾患病率为 26.1%（62/238），独立相关因素为每天使用经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐（aPR0.41，95%CI0.28，0.62），首次 ANC 就诊在妊娠 12 周后（aPR1.78，95%CI1.05，3.03）和处于第二或第三孕期（aPR0.45，95%CI0.26，0.76）。
在该环境中，接受 ANC 的孕妇疟疾患病率较高。我们建议向所有孕妇提供经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐，并鼓励早期接受 ANC，以便获得疟疾预防治疗和相关干预措施。
