scholarly journals Determinants of Antenatal Care Attendance among Pregnant Women Living in Endemic Malaria Settings: Experience from the Democratic Republic of Congo

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Célestin Ndosimao Nsibu ◽  
Célestin Manianga ◽  
Serge Kapanga ◽  
Esther Mona ◽  
Philippe Pululu ◽  
...  

Background. Antenatal care (ANC) attendance helps pregnant women to benefit from preventive and curative services.Methods. Determinants for ANC attendance were identified through a cross-sectional survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sociocultural bottlenecks were assessed via focus groups discussion of married men and women.Results. In this survey, 28 of the 500 interviewed pregnant women (5.6%) did not attend ANC services and 82.4% booked over the first trimester. The first visit is positively influenced by the reproductive age (OR: 0.52, 95% CI(0.28–0.95),p<0.04), the educational level (OR: 0.41,95% CI(0.17–0.97),p<0.04), the nearby health center (OR: 0.43, 95% CI(0.2–0.92),p<0.03), and the presence of a male partner (OR: 10.48, 95% CI(2.1–52.23),p<0.001). The barriers to early booking were (i) the cost of service; (ii) the appearance or individual income; (iii) the geographical inaccessibility or distance to health facilities; (iv) social and religious prohibitions; (v) the stigmatization from other women when conceiving in the late ages or young or while still lactating (parity); (vi) the time for waiting for services.Conclusion. The early ANC attendance is delayed among poor women with little education and living alone.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalau Mukadi Nkamba ◽  
Gilbert Wembodinga ◽  
Pierre Bernard ◽  
John Ditekemena ◽  
Annie Robert

Abstract Background Poor awareness of obstetric danger signs is a major contributing factor to delays in seeking obstetric care and hence to high maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. We conducted the current study to assess the level of agreement on receipt of counseling on obstetric danger signs between direct observations of antenatal care (ANC) consultation and women’s recall in the exit interview. We also identified factors associated with pregnant women’s awareness of obstetric danger signs during pregnancy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Methods We used data from the 2017–2018 DRC Service Provision Assessment survey. Agreement between the observation and woman’s recall was measured using Cohen’s kappa statistic and percent agreement. Multivariable Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression was used to identify factors associated with the number of danger signs during pregnancy the woman knew. Results On average, women were aware of 1.5 ± 1.34 danger signs in pregnancy (range: 0 to 8). Agreement between observation and woman’s recall was 70.7%, with a positive agreement of 16.9% at the country level but ranging from 2.1% in Bandundu to 39.7% in Sud Kivu. Using multivariable ZIP analysis, the number of obstetric danger signs the women mentioned was significantly higher in multigravida women (Adj.IRR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.23–1.55), in women attending a private facility (Adj.IRR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01–1.31), in women attending a subsequent ANC visit (Adj.IRR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.01–1.21), and in women counseled on danger signs during the ANC visit (Adj.IRR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.05–1.35). There was a regional variation in the awareness of danger signs, with the least mentioned signs in the middle and the most in the eastern provinces. Conclusions Our findings indicated poor agreement between directly observed counseling and women’s reports that counseling on obstetric danger signs occurred during the current ANC visit. We found that province of residence, provision of counseling on obstetric danger signs, facility ownership, gravidity and the number of ANC visits were predictors of the awareness of obstetric danger signs among pregnant women. These factors should be considered when developing strategies aim at improving women’s awareness about obstetric danger signs in the DRC


Author(s):  
Serge Tonen-Wolyec ◽  
Francois-Xavier Mbopi-Kéou ◽  
Salomon Batina-Agasa ◽  
Ginette Claude Mireille Kalla ◽  
Michel Noubom ◽  
...  

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Ditekemena ◽  
Dalau M. Nkamba ◽  
Armand Mutwadi ◽  
Hypolite M. Mavoko ◽  
Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo ◽  
...  

We investigated the level of willingness for COVID-19 vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Data were collected between 24 August 2020 and 8 September 2020 through an online survey. A total of 4131 responses were included; mean age of respondents was 35 years (standard deviation: 11.5); 68.4% were females; 71% had elementary or secondary school education. One fourth (24.1%) were convinced that COVID-19 did not exist. Overall, 2310 (55.9%) indicated they were willing to be vaccinated. In a multivariable regression model, belonging to the middle and high-income category (OR = 1.85, CI: 1.46–2.35 and OR = 2.91, CI: 2.15–3.93, respectively), being tested for COVID-19 (OR = 4.71, CI: 3.62–6.12; p < 0.001), COVID-19 community vaccine acceptance (OR = 14.45, CI: 2.91–71.65; p = 0.001) and acknowledging the existence of COVID-19 (OR = 6.04, CI: 4.42–8.23; p < 0.001) were associated with an increased willingness to be vaccinated. Being a healthcare worker was associated with a decreased willingness for vaccination (OR = 0.46, CI: 0.36–0.58; p < 0.001). In conclusion, the current willingness for COVID-19 vaccination among citizens of the DRC is too low to dramatically decrease community transmission. Of great concern is the low intention of immunization among healthcare workers. A large sensitization campaign will be needed to increase COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.


Author(s):  
Kangale Izale ◽  
Indiran Govender ◽  
Jean-Pierre L. Fina ◽  
John Tumbo

Background: Contraception is often necessary in order to plan for children and without it there is a risk of unplanned pregnancies. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, this often results in abortions by untrained persons with resultant morbidity and mortality. Aim: To investigate the factors that influence contraceptive use amongst women of childbearing age in the Vanga health zone. Methods: Cross-sectional survey using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Results: Of the 384 women recruited, a majority (46.1%) were in the 31–40 year age group;52% had reached primary school and 88% did not have formal employment. One hundredand forty of the participants reported current use of contraception, with 60% of them using modern methods of contraception; 36.1% of them had begun using contraception before the age of 20; and the most common methods were oral contraceptive pills and injection, each accounting for 22.9%. There was variation in the duration of contraceptive use and the main reason for using contraception was to space children. Of the participants, 20.7% had been using contraception for more than two years. Seventy-seven (31.5%) of the women reported they did not use contraception because of a fear of side effects. Forty-four (18%) reported that they are unable to afford contraception, 38 (15.6%) had husbands who disapproved of contraceptive usage, 26 (10.6%) had a fear of infertility, 18 (7.4%) practised a religion that did not allow them to use contraception and 12 of the women (4.9%) did not use contraception because it was unavailable to them. Conclusion: Barriers to contraception in our study were fears of side effects and infertility, cost, male partner’s objection, unavailability of contraception and religious beliefs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Kambale Mastaki J ◽  
Kalondero J ◽  
Munzombo T ◽  
Mutume Kabila T ◽  
Ngwala Ngwala B

ntroduction Breast self-examination is one of the most effective measures strongly recommended for the prevention of breast cancers by means of early detection. Material and method An institution and self-administered questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was conducted among female students of the Université Officielle de Ruwenzori (UOR), Butembo city, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the academic period 2018 to 2019. Results 215 female students out of 358 were included (response rate: 60.00%). Age mean and median were 22.74 years (95%CI: 22.25-23.24) and 22.00 years respectively. Most of them belonged to Nande/Yira tribe (81.55%; 95%CI: 75.61%-86.31%), the Faculty of Medicine (56.34%; 95%CI: 49.55%-62.90%) and catholic religion (53.49%; 95%CI: 46.75%-60.11%). The absolute majority of them had a basic knowledge about breast self-examination (BSE) (79.44%; 95%CI: 73.45%-84.37%) while only a slight majority has performed BSE at least once (55.71%; 95%CI: 48.88%-62.34%). Only the course of study (Medicine), residence (Butembo city), having basic knowledge about breast cancers and BSE impacted significantly on practice of BSE (Pearson chi2 p-values of 0.028, 0.037, 0.003 and 0.000 respectively). Finally, logistic regressions showed that only basic knowledge about BSE was associated with its practice. The relationship was strong (OR: 6.641; 95%CI: 2.823-15.620). Conclusion The large majority of UOR’s female students have basic knowledge about breast cancers and BSE. However, this fact is not automatically translated in a good appropriate health behavior meaning BSE. More effective sensitization has to be done in order to fix this health problem.


2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 1094-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro L. Antonia ◽  
Steven R. Meshnick ◽  
Mark Janko ◽  
Antoinette K. Tshefu ◽  
Steve M. Taylor ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mbusa Kambale ◽  
Gaylord Amani Ngaboyeka ◽  
Joe Bwija Kasengi ◽  
Sarah Niyitegeka ◽  
Boss Rutakaza Cinkenye ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Suboptimal child nutrition remains the main factor underlying child undernutrition in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study aimed to assess the prevalence of minimum acceptable diet and associated factors among children aged 6–23 months old. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study including 742 mothers with children aged 6–23 months old was conducted in 2 Health Zones of South Kivu, Eastern DRC. WHO indicators of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) regarding complementary feeding practices were used. Logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the association between sociodemographic indicators and adequate minimum acceptable diet for both univariate and multivariate analysis. Results Overall, 33% of infants had minimum acceptable diet. After controlling for a wide range of covariates, residence urban area (AOR 2.39; 95% CI 1.43, 3.85), attendance postnatal care (AOR 1.68; 95% CI 1.12, 2.97), education status of mother (AOR 1.83; 95% CI 1.20, 2.77) and household socioeconomic status (AOR 1.72; 95% CI 1.14, 2.59) were factors positively associated with minimum acceptable diet. Conclusion Actions targeting these factors are expected to improve infant feeding practices in South Kivu.


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