Page 107 - GHES-2-2

Global Health Econ Sustain

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Antenatal care attendance, intermittent
preventive treatment in pregnancy, and

malaria knowledge: A cross-sectional study in
government and private district hospitals

Charity Ahiabor 1,2,3 * , David Courtin 4 , William Anyan 2 , Atikatou Mama 2,4 ,
Naa Adjeley Frempong 2,3 , Kwadwo A. Kusi 2 , Michael F. Ofori 2 ,
3
6
Bright Adu 2 , Bernard H. Atuguba 5 , Kofi S. Ayensu , Bernard W. Lawson ,
Abraham K. Anang 2 , and Nicaise T. Ndam 4
1 Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Accra Technical
University, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
2 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
3 Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Faculty of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana
4 UMR MERIT (The MERIT Research Unit “Mother and Child in a Tropical Environment: Pathogens, Health
System and Epidemiological Transition”), University of Paris, Research Institute for Development, France
5 Battor Catholic Hospital, North Tongu District, Battor, Volta Region, Ghana
6 Asafoatse Yartey Avenue Hno. 30 Sakaman Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana

Abstract
Academic editor:
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE Ghana has made significant strides in maternal health care under the National Health
Insurance Scheme, but more effort is required to achieve the Sustainable Development
*Corresponding author: Goal (SDG) 3.1 target of fewer than 70 maternal deaths/100,000 live births, down
Charity Ahiabor
(cahiabor@atu.edu.gh) from the current rate of 308 maternal deaths/100,000 live births. This study aimed to
explore knowledge about antenatal care (ANC), antenatal attendance, malaria, and
Citation: Ahiabor, C., Courtin, D.,
Anyan, W., et al. (2024). Antenatal intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) among pregnant women from
care attendance, intermittent two high malaria endemic areas: Mafi-Adidome (a rural community) visiting Adidome
preventive treatment in pregnancy, Government Hospital and Battor Dugame (a rural-urban community) visiting Battor
and malaria knowledge: A cross-
sectional study in government and Catholic Hospital. A total of 1295 consenting pregnant women participated in the
private district hospitals. Global study. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, as well as knowledge about
Health Econ Sustain, 2(2): 2336. ANC, IPTp, and malaria, were collected via questionnaires. Chi-square tests were used
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2336
to compare the proportions of variables across the two study sites. A higher proportion
Received: November 29, 2023 of participants at Battor Catholic Hospital (70.8%) showed adequate knowledge
2
Accepted: March 25, 2024 about ANC compared to those at Adidome Government Hospital (38.1%) (χ [7] =
105.11; p < 0.001). In addition, more participants at Battor Catholic Hospital (46.6%)
Published Online: March 29, 2024
showed adequate knowledge about the timing for IPTp administration compared to
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). those at Adidome Government Hospital (21.1%) (χ [2] = 83.37; p < 0.001). Although
2
This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the knowledge about malaria was generally low (0–33.3%) at both health centers, a high
Creative Commons Attribution proportion of participants (>80%) possessed and used mosquito bed nets for malaria
License, permitting distribution, and prevention. A lower proportion (46.6%) of participants at Battor Catholic Hospital
reproduction in any medium, which
provided that the original work is made the WHO-recommended four to seven visits compared to 50.2% of participants
properly cited. at Adidome Government Hospital. Age, marital status, employment, and education
influenced the utilization of antenatal and delivery services. Increased sensitization
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with on the importance of ANC and hospital delivery is needed in these study areas.
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Antenatal care; Knowledge; Malaria; Preventive treatment
affiliations.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2336