FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HEMATINICS UTILIZATION DURING PREGNANCY AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER TWO YEARS IN IBADAN NORTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

Anaemia is said to be among the leading causes of maternal mortality among pregnant women in Nigeria, and is brought about by deficiencies of Iron and Folic acid. Compelling evidence abound showing the effectiveness of hematinics on hemoglobin levels during pregnancy, yet, considerable evidence abound detailing minimal utilization rates across the country. However, whilst much attention has been paid to utilization rates of hematinics and the diverse consequences among which anaemia is chief, little such has been paid to the contexts affecting the demand for, and utilization of such supplements. This study therefore examined these contexts by assessing the knowledge levels of, factors influencing, perceptions of, and willingness of mothers of under-two year old children about hematinics in Ibadan North East Local Government Area, Oyo State. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour was adopted as a theoretical reference point. A Survey research design was used, with an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire used in collecting data. Ethical approval was sought from the Oyo State Ethics Review Committee, and informed consent was obtained from all 190 respondents sampled purposively within this study. Data generated was analyzed with the aid of SPSS version 24 and descriptive as well as inferential statistics were drawn from the dataset. The mean age of respondents was 28.7, with 44.7% of the respondents aged between 26 and 30 years. The Yoruba ethnic group represented 90.4% of the sample, with 53.2% being Muslims and 88.5% of the sample size being self-employed. Forty-one percent of the sample also had secondary school leaving certificate as their highest educational achievement, while 67.9% had utilized formal health care facilities for childbirth and health treatment. Eighty-four percent claimed to know about hematinics and 71.6% claimed to have obtained this knowledge from clinics. However, the research found that the knowledge score of respondents was 4.9 ±1.7. Poor family support (65.3%) and inability to make decisions at home (59.5%) ranked highest among the factors affecting utilization of hematinics, and while 68.9% of respondents had positive opinions about hematinics, 52.6% respondents opined that it was unnecessary to purchase. In total, only 48.9% showed a willingness to use hematinics in subsequent pregnancies. None of the socio-demographic characteristics cross-tabulated showed any significance association with knowledge; while distance to supply (0.002), cultural factors (0.044), cost of drugs (0.003), poor family support (0.02), and inability to make decisions at home (0.025) had significant association with use of hematinics; and adherence to use was significantly associated with education (0.009). While the importance of hematinics is without doubt, this research showed that knowledge levels and adherence rates to hematinics utilization was quite low among mothers of under-two in using hematinics during their pregnancy phase in Ibadan North East Local Government Area, Oyo state. This research made suggestions regarding continued public sensitization on the subject based on the research objectives and the findings drawn from the data gathered.