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CC BY 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2023; 13(02): 111-116
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1770700
Original Article

Awareness of Preeclampsia among Antenatal Clinic Attendees in Northwestern Nigeria

Aisha N. Adamu
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Federal Medical Centre Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria
,
Katie L. Callahan
2   Department of Community Health Education and Recreation, University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, Maine, United States
,
Peter B. Anderson
3   Contributing Faculty and College of Health Professions, Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
› Author Affiliations Funding This research was supported in part by funds received from the Research & Applications for Social Change Grant, which was created by Walden University to enable members of the Walden community to make a significant and meaningful change in academic and social communities, both locally and globally. For more information on the award or Walden, please visit www.waldenu.edu. However, the organization had no role in the preparation of the article or the decision to publish.
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Abstract

Background Preeclampsia (PE) is among the five main causes of maternal mortality in low resource countries. This study was designed to assess PE awareness and its socioeconomic determinants among antenatal clinic attendees in northwestern Nigeria.

Methods Two hundred twenty-one antenatal clinic attendees in northwestern Nigeria were selected through systematic random sampling for this quantitative study. Women who were 9 months pregnant and had consented to participate were included; those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes mellitus were excluded. Data on respondents' sociodemographic variables, and PE awareness were collected using a validated questionnaire. Associations between variables were tested using chi-square test and multiple regression analysis.

Results Ninety-one percent of respondents were aged 20 to 40 years, 53.9% were multiparous, 27% had no or low level of formal education, and 52% had attended antenatal care (ANC) at least four times in the index pregnancy. Only 37% (N = 83) were aware of PE. Women with formal education were 3.8 times more likely (odds ratio [OR] = 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4–10.3) to be aware of PE compared with those with no formal education (p < 0.05). Also, women who experienced hypertension in their previous pregnancies were 2.8 times more likely (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.37–5.71) to be aware of PE than those women who had not (p < 0.05).

Conclusion There was a low level of PE awareness among pregnant women in this study; being formally educated and having had hypertension in a previous pregnancy were positively associated with PE awareness. PE education should be part of ANC.

Keywords

preeclampsia - antenatal clinic - maternal mortality - awareness - Nigeria - low- and middle-income countries

Authors' Contributions

Conception and design of study: A.N.A., K.L.C.; acquisition of data: A.N.A.; analysis and/or interpretation of data: A.N.A., K.L.C., P.B.A.; drafting the manuscript: A.N.A.; revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: K.L.C., P.B.A.; approval of the version of the manuscript to be published: A.N.A., K.L.C., and P.B.A.




Publication History

Article published online:
03 July 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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