Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards prevention of malaria among pregnant women attending ANC services at Busolwe hospital in Butaleja district. A cross-sectional study.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66852/gsfxbt57Keywords:
Knowledge, attitude and practice, artemisinin derivatives, Busolwe hospital, Butaleja district, Insecticide-treated netsAbstract
Background: Malaria in pregnancy is a serious health risk with many side effects for both the mothers and the unborn babies, and its high level of transmission is highly attributed to inconsistencies in prevention methods like use of ITNs, indoor residual spraying, IPT and many others. This study aimed at determining the knowledge, attitude and practices towards prevention of malaria among pregnant women attending ANC services at Busolwe Hospital in Butaleja.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 79 pregnant women who were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using Microsoft Word and Excel, and results were presented as tables, pie charts and bar graphs.
Results: Majority of the respondents were aged between 26-35 years 43%, married 85% and had attained secondary education. All the respondents had heard about malaria in pregnancy, and 89% of them knew that malaria is transmitted through mosquito bites. 24% of the respondents believed that malaria was a serious health risk during pregnancy.76% believed that ITNs were effective in the prevention of malaria. However, 48% slept under ITNs, and 8% regularly took anti-malarial drugs during their pregnancy.
Conclusion: Pregnant women had good knowledge about malaria in pregnancy, with varied attitudes towards its prevention. However, practices were unsatisfactory.
Recommendations: Local leaders, with help from the Ministry of Health, through health training programs and monitoring, should continue to sensitise pregnant mothers on the importance of practising malaria preventive methods, especially taking antimalarials and using ITNs.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Edwin Wegulo, Joseph Kiwu, Magala M Mayanja (Author)
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