Effect of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria on the outcome of pregnancy among women attending antenatal clinic of a new Nigerian teaching hospital, Ado-Ekiti

BACKGROUND: Malaria is a public health problem globally especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa and among the under five children and pregnant women and is associated with a lot of maternal and foetal complications. OBJECTIVE: The study was on the effect of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy on the prevalence of malaria in pregnancy and the outcome of pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to women admitted in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital labour ward, Ado-Ekiti. About 4,200 women participated in the study and the inclusion criteria were women who were booked in the hospital, attended at least four antenatal clinic visits, and consented to the study while the exclusion criteria were those who didn't book in the hospital and failed to give their consent. RESULTS: The study revealed that about 75% of the pregnant women studied had access to intermittent preventive treatment of malaria. Among the women attending the antenatal clinic that received sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), about 78% of them took two doses of SP. The prevalence of clinical malaria was statistically higher in women who did not receive intermittent preventive treatment with SP during pregnancy (44.7% vs. 31.3%, P = 0.0001) and among women who had one dose of the drug instead of two doses (40.0% vs. 28.7%, P = 0.0001). There was no statistical significant difference in the mean age in years (31.53 ± 5.238 vs. 31.07 ± 4.751, P = 0.09 and the gestational age at delivery (38.76 ± 1.784 vs. 38.85 ± 1.459, P = 0.122) between the women who did not receive SP and those who had it. There was a statistical significant difference in the outcome of pregnancy among women who had Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and those who did not viz.-a-viz. in the duration of labor (8.6 ± 1.491 vs. 8.7 ± 1.634, P = 0.011) and the birth weight of the babies (3.138 ± 0.402 vs. 3.263 ± 0.398, P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: SP is an effective malarial prophylaxis in pregnancy.