Predictors of practices on Zika virus infection among women attending antenatal care at public clinics in Johor Bahru district 2017

Background: Zika Virus outbreak was announced as Public Health Emergency Of International Concern (PHEIC) in February, 2016 as sudden increasing of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders in some areas affected by Zika Virus. Furthermore, other than transmitted via mosquito bites, some studies proven that Zika Virus infection can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse and blood-borne. In 2016, there was occurrence of two confirmed Zika Virus infection cases in Johor Bahru district, which one of them was a pregnant woman. Objectives: To determine the predictors affecting preventive practices on Zika Virus infection among pregnant women attending antenatal check-up at public health facilities in Johor Bahru district in 2017. Methods: The study was a cross sectional study, conducted in April 2017 on 724 pregnant women in Johor Bahru district, who were sampled by using probability proportional to size method. Data was collected by self-administrated questionnaire and had analysed using SPSS version 22.0. Result: Majority of the respondents had high level of preventive practices and also on knowledge related to Zika Virus infection. The predictors for level of preventive practices on Zika Virus infection were Muslim, type of house (apartment, flat or condominium), and knowledge. Other variables, including health belief were found as not significant predictor in this study. Conclusion: From this study, only 3 variables became the predictors for preventive practices and no significant association was found between level of preventive practices and health belief of the respondents. Our study recommends to increase health promotion to improve awareness and preventive practices technique on Zika Virus infection