Determinants of use of insecticide-treated nets among pregnant women in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Malaria in pregnancy is still a major health issue in Nigeria, accounting for about 33% of cause of maternal death. Despite massive efforts to make insecticide-treated net (ITN) available to pregnant women in Nigeria, the use is still low. This study was conducted to identify facilitators and inhibitors for the use of ITN/long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) among pregnant women in Nigeria. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 2011 State-Specific HIV & AIDS, Reproductive and Child Health Survey conducted in 18 states of Nigeria. The survey was a population-based study among men and women of reproductive age living in households in rural and urban areas of Nigeria. Multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select eligible respondents. The sample size per state was 960 respondents. Data were collected between October and November 2011. The analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. RESULTS: A total of 11.5% of the respondents were pregnant at the time of the survey of which 73.2% lived in rural location and approximately 70% were either not educated or attained at most a primary school education. A total of 93.2% of respondents have heard of net, 82.6% were confident that they can hang or use a net, and 64.6% owned an ITN/LLIN in their household while the actual use was just 19.2%. We found education, location (urban–rural), confidence to use a net, and knowledge that the use of a net can protect a pregnant woman from malaria to be significant at 5% level. The number of nets owned per household, the length of time the net is owned, age, and marital status were not significant. Multiple logistics regression shows that pregnant women who are confident to hang or use a net were almost ten times more likely to use a net than those who do not know, while those who know that the use of an ITN/LLIN can protect a pregnant woman from malaria were almost two times more likely to use a net than those who do not know. CONCLUSION: In general, while owning a net facilitates its use, ownership does not necessarily translate to usage. Owning more than one ITN/LLIN per household was not significant in the use of an ITN/LLIN by pregnant women in this study, neither was the length of time the net was owned. This study shows that increasing the number of nets owned per household might not be a critical decider on whether the net will be used or not. We recommend massive education on the use of ITN. Skill building on use and increasing knowledge on the benefits of using nets may contribute to improving ITN use among pregnant women in Nigeria.