Malaria-Related Psychosocial Factors, Past Antenatal Care-Seeking Behaviors, and Future Antenatal Care-Seeking Intentions by Maternal Age in Malawi and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Young women in sub-Saharan Africa are a group at increased risk for malaria in pregnancy. Early antenatal care (ANC) seeking makes it more likely that women will receive the recommended doses of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy. This study used data from national Malaria Behavior Surveys conducted in Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2021 to explore the association between intention to attend ANC in the first trimester for a future pregnancy (early ANC intention) and psychosocial factors among women aged 15-49 years. Eight psychosocial factors related to ANC and based on the ideation model were included, including knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The study used multivariable logistic regression models controlling for demographic characteristics to evaluate associations between early ANC intention and the individual ideational factors and the composite measure. Analysis included 2,148 women aged 15-49 years (Malawi: 827, DRC: 1,321). Antenatal care ideation was lower among young (aged 15-20 years) than among older (aged 21-49 years) women in Malawi. Young mothers with higher ANC ideation were more likely to intend to attend ANC early in their next pregnancy in both countries. Specific ideational factors associated with intention to attend ANC early varied by country and included positive attitudes, knowledge of ANC, and positive self-efficacy. In Malawi and the DRC, youth-friendly social and behavior change interventions to increase ANC-related ideation could increase future early ANC attendance among young women to improve malaria and birth outcomes.

Assessing Hepatitis B Knowledge Among Immigrant Communities in New York City.

The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) among New York City immigrants. Data were obtained from cohort of 2385 persons at-risk for HBV, who completed a knowledge assessment survey during HBV screening events in 2010-2013. HBV knowledge scores were very low among the tested population, with the majority answering every question incorrectly. Participants had higher odds of obtaining a better score if they were fluent in English or born in the US, where participants had lower odds if they were born in Africa or spoke French as their native language. Results show a distinct lack of HBV knowledge among multiple communities at risk for HBV. Future research is needed to evaluate effective interventions to increase HBV knowledge in foreign-born, at-risk communities.