ABSTRACT
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and usage of ITNs among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a referral health facility in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at the antenatal clinic of the Federal Medical Centre Azare, North-East Nigeria between October and December 2012. A structured questionnaire was administered on consenting consecutive pregnant women until the sample size was reached. Data obtained were analysed and associations were compared using 2 and Fisher’s exact test where applicable, with Pvalue <0.05 considered significant. Results: A total of 197 pregnant women were recruited and interviewed. The maternal age ranged from 17-45 years with mean age of 24.2±5.5 years while the parity ranged from 0-11 with multipara constituting 95 (48.22%) and grand multipara, 29 (14.72%). While only 31 (15.74%) of the respondents had tertiary level of education, 64(32.49%) and 15(7.61%) of them had secondary and primary levels of education respectively. Twenty five (12.69%) had no formal education. Majority of the clients, 162 (82.23%) were unemployed, 14 (7.11%) were civil servants and 17 (8.63%) were petty traders. Although most of the women, 189 (95.94%), had knowledge of ITNs, only 132 (67.01%) owned them and much less, 97 (49.24%), used them. Para 5 and above were significantly more likely to use ITNs than para 1-4 and para 0 (2=21.118; P=0.03). Age, educational status, occupation, ethnic groups and religion (2=1.084; P=0.30) did not influence the use of ITNs. Thirty two (32.00%) and 23 (23.00%) of the ITN non-users gave heat and poverty respectively, as reasons for non utilization. Conclusion: Only few of the clients studied utilized ITNs mainly because of heat and poverty. Education of pregnant women to correct the myths associated with the use of ITNs will improve compliance rate.
ABSTRACT
In Niger, insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) have been distributed to the target group of households with young children and/or pregnant women at healthcare facilities in the course of antenatal/immunization clinics. With the aim of universal coverage, ITNs were additionally distributed to households through strengthened community health committees in 2009. This study assessed the impact of the community-based net distribution strategy involving community health committees in the ITN coverage in Boboye Health District, Niger. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 1,034 households drawn from the intervention area (the co-existence of the community-based system together with the facility-based system) and the control area (the facility-based system alone). In the intervention area, 55.8% of households owned ITNs delivered through the community-based system, and 29.6% of households exclusively owned ITNs obtained through the community-based system. The community-based system not only reached households within the target group (54.6% ownership) but also those without (59.1% ownership). Overall, household ITN ownership was significantly higher in the intervention area than in the control area (82.5% vs. 60.7%). In combination, the community-based system and the facility-based system achieved a high ITN coverage. The community-based system contributed to reducing leakage in the facility-based system.