SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHES AND ANAEMIA AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS IN IDO AND AKINYELE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF IBADAN, OYO STATE

Abstract

Soil Transmitted Helminthes (STH) infection is an important but neglected tropical disease and a major cause of anaemia during pregnancy. STH infection has been well investigated among children while pregnant women have been given less attention. Investigating the association between STH and anaemia helps provide the needed evidence for providing interventions lo reduce anaemia in pregnancy. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and intensity of STH, factors associated with STH and also investigated the association between soil transmitted helminthes infection and anaemia among pregnant women attending Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) at Ido and Akinyele Local Government Areas in Ibadan. A cross sectional study was conducted using the multistage sampling technique, in which 326 pregnant women from six PHCC were studied, over a period of 12 weeks, a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on the socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive and antenatal health, medical history, environmental factors and hygiene practices among the pregnant women. Stool samples were collected and kato-katz technique of quantification was used to determine the presence of STH, capillary blood samples were taken and used to determine the PCV and the presence of malaria in the study participants. Data analysis was done using frequency distributions, chi-square for bivariate and binary logistic regression multivariate analysis, at 5% level of significance. Among participants mean age was 28.25 ± 5.6 years. 291 (89%) were married, 176 (54%) had at least secondary school education and 217 (66.8) were employed. Muslims were 168(51.5) and Christians 154 (47.2) with about two third of the women 217 (66.8) earning below 10000 naira per annum. The prevalence of STH in this study was 13.8%, and common organisms were Ascaris lumbricoides 13.2%, Trichuris trichiura 0.3% and hookworms 0.6% with no case of multiple infection. There was a single case of moderate infection of Ascaris lumbricoides with others being of light intensity. At multivariate logistic regression women who wore shoes in the house (OR=3.94, 95%CI= 1.70-9.15) were four times more likely to he infected with STH than women who did not wear shoes in the house. Similarly women who washed their hands with soap before eating (OR=0.43, 95% Cl=0.23-0.82) were 57% less likely to be infected with STH than the women who did not wash their hands before eating. There was a statistically significant association between STH infection and anaemia in the pregnant women in this study (OR= 2.13, 95%Cl=1.13 -4.01p=0.018), after adjusting for malaria. Although the prevalence of this study was not up to the cutoff of 20% stipulated by WHO before it can be refereed to as a disease of Public Health importance, anaemia was still significantly associated with STH infection. However, there is still a need for constant monitoring of STH infection in the semi-urban areas.