Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women receiving antenatal care at the health centre of the town campus of University of Uyo, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 1 171 pregnant women participated in the present study. Structured questionnaire was administered to obtain relevant demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants. Thin blood films were obtained and examined for malaria parasites. Data obtained were analyzed using the statistical software SPSS version 20. Results: The results obtained showed that out of the 1 171 pregnant women, 61 (5.21%) were positive for malaria infection. The month of July recorded the highest prevalence [19.70% (12 cases)], while February, April and June had the lowest prevalence [11.50% (7 cases) each]. Results obtained from Chi-square test indicated that the difference in the prevalence of malaria in relation to age was statistically significant (χ2cal = 16.616, χ2tab = 7.815, P < 0.05). The difference in the prevalence of malaria based on occupation was not significant (χ2cal = 3.474, 2 χ tab = 9.488, P > 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence rate of malaria infection among pregnant women was low in the present study. However, malaria in pregnancy still remains a health-care concern in our communities.

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