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Table 3 Knowledge of women about Malaria in Pregnancy

From: Malaria knowledge and experiences with community health workers among recently pregnant women in Malawi

Indicator

Overall

Nkhata Bay

Ntcheu

p-value

N = 369

N = 178

N = 191

Serious problems during pregnancy (%)

 Accelerated/reduced fetal movement

2.1

2.1

2.0

0.97

 Malaria

43.4

51.2

41.2

0.02

 Convulsions

11.4

4.6

13.4

0.01

 Loss of consciousness

2.9

3.2

2.8

0.87

 Losing water

10.9

14.8

9.8

0.36

 High fever

10.4

16.7

8.5

0.13

 Bleeding

40.5

45.6

39.1

0.31

 Severe weakness

2.5

5.4

1.7

0.10

 Severe abdominal pain

9.2

11.7

8.5

0.46

 Difficulty breathing

4.1

3.2

4.4

0.63

 Severe headache

8.1

11.3

7.2

0.21

 Swollen hands/face

16.0

18.9

15.1

0.49

 Blurred vision

2.8

1.0

3.4

0.01

Signs of malaria (%)

 Fever

86.2

90.7

84.8

0.28

 Diarrhoea

16.2

20.7

14.9

0.36

 Vomiting

14.3

9.9

15.6

0.002

 Convulsion

8.9

6.7

9.6

0.46

 Aches and pains

42.7

47.3

41.3

0.36

How women can get malaria (%)

 Mosquito bites

79.6

89.9

76.6

< 0.0001

 Dirty food/water

7.3

9.1

6.8

0.42

 Dirty environment

13.7

21.7

11.3

0.005

Identified mosquito bites as the primary means to get malaria

68.6

62.1

70.6

0.03

 

N = 355

N = 172

N = 185

 

How to prevent malaria (%)

 Take IPTp

28.6

41.0

24.8

0.02

 Sleep under ITN

85.3

85.7

85.2

0.92

Respondent identified both ITN and IPTp as prevention for MIP

18.7

29.3

15.5

< 0.0001

Respondent identified either ITN OR IPTp as prevention for MIP

90.1

93.6

89.1

0.002

Effects of malaria in pregnancy (%)

 Maternal death

45.5

55.4

42.6

0.0004

 Abortion/miscarriage

33.4

48.3

29.1

< 0.0001

 Baby might die or be dead at birth

32.3

38.9

30.3

0.09

 Premature delivery

19.9

27.2

17.7

0.04

 Severe maternal malaria

15.5

21.7

13.7

0.15

 Baby might be small

11.4

12.8

11.0

0.59

 Anemia

11.2

17.6

9.3

0.001

  

N = 172

N = 183

 

Knowledge indexa

 Poor

66.2

63.9

66.9

0.64

 Adequate

33.8

36.1

33.1

  1. aKnowledge index: A malaria knowledge index was created to categorize women’s overall knowledge. Women were awarded one point for each of the following: correctly identifying (1) two or more health problems in pregnancy, (2) two or more consequences of malaria in pregnancy, (3) mosquito bites as the only way to get malaria, and (4) both IPTp and ITNs as malaria prevention in pregnancy. Women with a score of 2 or less were categorized as having poor knowledge, while 3 or more was considered adequate knowledge
  2. IPTp Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy, ITN Insecticide-treated Net, MIP malaria in pregnancy