Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Debre Berhan University, P.O.Box 445, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia.
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, P.O. Box 9086, Ethiopia.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Aug 25;23(1):1636. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16578-8.
Household air pollution is the major public health problem in developing countries. Pregnant women spent the majority of their time at home and are the most affected population by household air pollution. Exploring the perception of pregnant women on adverse health effects is important to enhance the mitigation strategies. Therefore, this study aim to explore the pregnant women's perceptions about health effects of household air pollution in rural Butajira, Ethiopia.
A phenomenological qualitative study design was conducted among 15 selected pregnant women. All interviews were carried out at the participants´ house and audio-recorded while housing and cooking conditions were observed and appropriate notes were taken for each. The collected data were transcribed verbatim and translated into the English language. Then, the data were imported into Open code software to manage the overall data coding processes and analyzed thematically.
Study participants perceived that respiratory problems such as coughing, sneezing and asthma and eye problem were the major health problem caused by household air pollution among pregnant women. Study participants also mentioned asphyxiated, abortion, reduces weight, and hydrocephalus was caused by household air pollution on the foetus. Study participants perceived that financial inability, spouse negligence, autonomy and knowledge level of the women were the barriers to tackling household air pollution. Study participant also suggested that opening the door and window; using improved cookstove and reduce workload were the perceived solution for household air pollution.
This study explores pregnant women's perceptions on health effects of household air pollution. The finding of this study was important to deliver suitable intervention strategies to mitigate household air pollution. Therefore, educating the women on way of mitigating household air pollution, improving existing structure of the house and minimize the time to stay in the kitchen is important to mitigate household air pollution exposure.
家庭空气污染是发展中国家的主要公共卫生问题。孕妇大部分时间都呆在家里，是受家庭空气污染影响最大的人群。探索孕妇对健康影响的看法对于加强缓解策略很重要。因此，本研究旨在探讨埃塞俄比亚布塔吉拉农村地区孕妇对家庭空气污染健康影响的看法。
采用现象学定性研究设计，在 15 名选定的孕妇中进行。所有访谈均在参与者家中进行，并进行录音，同时观察住房和烹饪条件，并为每个条件做适当的记录。收集的数据逐字转录并翻译成英文。然后，将数据导入 Open code 软件以管理整个数据编码过程，并进行主题分析。
研究参与者认为，呼吸问题如咳嗽、打喷嚏和哮喘以及眼睛问题是孕妇因家庭空气污染而面临的主要健康问题。研究参与者还提到，窒息、流产、体重减轻和脑积水是家庭空气污染对胎儿造成的影响。研究参与者认为，经济能力不足、配偶忽视、妇女的自主权和知识水平是解决家庭空气污染的障碍。研究参与者还建议打开门窗；使用改良炉灶和减少工作量是解决家庭空气污染的方法。
本研究探讨了孕妇对家庭空气污染健康影响的看法。这项研究的发现对于提供适当的干预策略来减轻家庭空气污染很重要。因此，教育妇女减轻家庭空气污染的方法、改善现有房屋结构以及减少在厨房逗留的时间对于减轻家庭空气污染暴露很重要。
