Deworming utilization among pregnant mothers with at least one antenatal care follow-up in Ethiopia, 2022:- A multilevel analysis

BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminthes (STHs) are the major public health problems that affect the health of pregnant women and their incoming newborns. In Ethiopia, about 33.35% of pregnant women were affected by these infections. Utilization of deworming medication during pregnancy is the main strategy endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the burden of STH-induced anemia and its related complications. However, information related to the coverage and its individual as well as community-level factors on the utilization of deworming medication among pregnant mothers with at least one antenatal care (ANC) visit is limited in Ethiopia. METHODS: A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 18 to June 27, 2016. The information was obtained from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS 2016), which can be accessed at: https://www.dhsprogram.com. A weighted sample of 4690 pregnant women selected using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling technique was included in the final analysis. A Multi-variable multilevel binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify the determinants of the utilization of deworming medication during pregnancy. Log-likelihood ration (LLR), deviance and Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) were used to select the best fitted model in the multilevel analysis. Statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05. RESULT: From a total of 4690 mothers included in the final analysis, only 365 (7.8%) of them utilized deworming medication in pregnancy. After controlling for confounding effects, having four or more Antenatal care (ANC) visits, having functional working status, intake of iron folic acid (IFA) tablets and coming from a community with a low poverty level increases the odds of utilization of deworming medication during pregnancy. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: In this study, less than one in ten pregnant mothers takes deworming medication. Mothers with less than four ANC visits, who did not receive IFA tablets, who came from a community with a high poverty level, and mothers with no good functional status were at the greatest risk of not receiving deworming medication during pregnancy. Sustained efforts need to be undertaken to increase the socioeconomic status of the community and to scale up the health care utilization behaviors of pregnant mothers.