A multicenter study of the prevalence and risk factors of malaria and anemia among pregnant women at first antenatal care visit in Ghana

Abstract

Background Malaria in pregnancy remains a major public health problem in Africa and Ghana and has been associated with a variety of pregnancy-related adverse complications. The development of effective and timely health policies for the prevention and control of malaria and anemia in pregnancy; requires current and consistent data on the prevalence and risk factors. We report the prevalence and risk factors of malaria and anemia from three major hospitals across three regions in Ghana. Methods This multicenter cross-sectional study comprising a total of 628 pregnant women was conducted at the antenatal care units of the Achimota Hospital in the Greater Accra Region (n = 199), St. Michael's Hospital in the Ashanti Region (n = 221), and Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in the Western Region (n = 211). Questionnaires were administered to obtain socio-demographic, obstetrics and clinical data. Venous blood, stool and urine samples were collected for hematological profile and parasite identification using microscopy. Risk factors were evaluated using logistic regression models. Results The overall prevalence of P. falciparum malaria was 8.9%. Factors independently associated with malaria were self-reported mosquito exposure (moderate exposure: aOR = 3.11, 95% CI (1.12-8.61) and severe exposure: aOR = 10.46, 95% CI (3.86-28.34)) and non-use mosquito repellents (aOR = 3.29, 95% CI (1.70-6.39)). Multiparty (parity of 2: aOR = 0.19, 95% CI (0.05-0.70) and parity �3: aOR = 0.11, 95% CI (0.03-0.45)) and age (20-30 years old: aOR = 0.22, 95% CI (0.09-0.56)) reduced the odds of infection. The overall prevalence

Risk factors for Plasmodium falciparum infection in pregnant women in Burkina Faso: a community-based cross-sectional survey

“…No difference in parasite prevalence by gravidity was observed, which differs from other studies, which found higher prevalence in primi- and secundigravidae, compared to multigravidae [ 32 , 33 ]. This may be because in our study setting pregnant women are, irrespective of gravidity, exposed to same high level of transmission, and hence the probability of getting infected is quite similar.…”

“…The finding that literate women had 2.54 times the odds of P. falciparum infection compared to illiterate women was unexpected. While literature on this is mixed, with some studies showing an association between literacy and reduced infection [ 32 ] and others showing no such association [ 33 , 37 ], to the best of our knowledge there are no other studies which found a higher odds of infection in literate women. There was no association between literacy and ITN use, ANC attendance or IPTp-SP doses, suggesting that literacy is not acting via reduced uptake of preventive measures.…”

Meta-Analysis the Effect of Malaria Infection on Anemia in Pregnant Women

“…In line with the results of research conducted by Fondjo (2020), among pregnant women with anemia, among them suffer from malaria. Regression analysis of the studies revealed that malaria increased the risk of anemia by up to twofold among the population.…”

Trends of malaria infection in pregnancy in Ghana over the past two decades: a review

“…Comparatively, between 2011 and 2019, the prevalence reduced and has ranged between 10 and 17% [ 27 – 32 ] though much lower measures of 3.5–5.5% continue to be recorded in urban and peri-urban areas of Accra [ 33 , 34 ]. In spite of these relatively lower prevalence recorded for peripheral blood films over the period, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) evaluations showed comparable or much higher prevalence of up to 43% and 12.6% for peripheral and placental parasitaemia, respectively over 2015–2017 [ 34 ].…”