Risk Factors and Management Practices for Malaria Among Pregnant Women in Owerri Metropolis-A Population-Based Study

Malaria risks and management practices among women receiving antenatal care in Owerri metropolis, Imo State was investigated. A total of 342 pregnant women that had lived in the study area for at least 1 year were recruited. Ethical clearance and informed consent were sought and obtained prior to the survey. At recruitment, each participating woman was administered a questionnaire to help capture information on risk factors, clinical status and symptoms, and their ethno-management practices. Results showed that the risk factors that predisposed pregnant women to P. falciparum infection implicated presence of sewage and overgrown bushes around residence, engaging in much farming and staying outdoors at night, when compared with abstainers that had less likelihood (p<0.05). Less than 35% of the women admitted they had episodes of fever, headache, cough/catarrah, anorexia and weakness, and mostly occurred during their first trimester. Malaria management among the women were the use of spray (37.4%), drug (27.5%) and treated net (19.3%) among others, with poor compliance and adherence. High preponderant of the women responded they had treatment satisfaction due to good health care delivery (38.0%) and drug effectiveness (33.3%) at moderate treatment cost. In conclusion, whereas environmental and behavioural factors do expose pregnant women alike to malaria infection, those in their first trimester are at more risk considering the higher rate of their clinical manifestations. Therefore, awareness campaigns by healthcare workers and/or trained volunteers should be carried out more intensely to address the poor compliance to malaria management procedures in the study area.