Prevalence of maternal hypoglycaemia and Plasmodium falciparum infections among women attending antenatal clinics in three development centres of Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria

A cross-sectional epidemiological survey on hypoglycaemia prevalence among Plasmodium falciparum-infected women attending antenatal clinics in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State, Nigeria was undertaken between January and September 2015. The obstetric, demographic, clinical and management data of the pregnant women were determined using a structured questionnaire. Out of the 375 randomly selected pregnant women assessed for P. falciparum infection and hypoglycaemia using standard kits, 292(77.9%) women had P. falciparum infection and 39(13.4%) of the infected pregnant women were hypoglycaemic. The highest prevalence for both P. falciparum infection (47.9%, 45.5%) and hypoglycaemia (46.5%, 67.4%) were observed among age group 30-34 years old and primigravidae respectively. In relation to trimester, P. falciparum infection (46.6%) and hypoglycaemia (58.2%) were highest in second and first trimester respectively. Generally, hypoglycaemic infected subjects showed significant difference (p<0.05) when compared with their non-infected counterpart. The study showed no significant correlation between hypoglycaemia and malaria infection status; rather hypoglycaemia occurrence was associated with markers of impaired quality of life (anorexia) and disruption in the maintenance of glucose supply. Recognition of hypoglycaemia risk factors, blood glucose monitoring, selection of appropriate regimens, education programs for health care professionals and at risk patients are the major issues for maintaining good glycemic control, minimize the risk of hypoglycaemia, and prevent long-term complications. Also, the study recommends that simple, rapid and reliable laboratory tests at health centres be readily available to help in diagnosis, prevention and management of hypoglycaemia complications.Keywords: Hypoglyceamia; Plasmodium falciparum; maternal; antenatal; Nsukka LG