Regular Antenatal Attendance and Education Influence the Uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study at the University Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana

Background. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of Insecticide Treated Bed-Nets and Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) with Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) as interventions in curbing malaria during pregnancy. However, increasing evidence shows a gap in coverage where not all pregnant women receive the recommended SP dose. This study evaluated the factors influencing uptake of IPTp-SP among pregnant women in Kumasi, Ghana. Methodology. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 pregnant women attending the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Validated structured questionnaires were administered to obtain sociodemographic, medical/reproductive information, and IPTp-SP uptake among participants. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 25.0 statistics. Results. The mean age of respondents was 29.7±4.9 years. Of the 280 women interviewed, 74.6% attended the antenatal care (ANC) clinic at least four times with only 31.8% completing the recommended doses. Tertiary education [aOR=3.15, 95% CI (0.94 -10.97), and p=0.042] and ≥ 4 ANC visits [aOR=24.6, 95% CI (5.87-103.07), p