Abstract:

Background: Malaria is one of the killer diseases worldwide majorly transmitted by the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria during pregnancy remains a major public health concern in many sub-Saharan African countries with Nigeria having the highest prevalence rate (27%). Purpose: This study was therefore designed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with treatment of malaria among pregnant women in selected rural and urban health centres in Osun State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Two hundred consenting pregnant women were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique from eight PHCs from Olorunda and Osogbo LGAs. The study was a facility-based, cross-sectional comparative survey using semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaires Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to analyze data and the level of statistical significance was set at α ≤ 0.05. Results: Mean age of 28.29±7.23 and 28.37±6.90 for rural and urban PHCs respectively. All the respondents are Yoruba, almost two-thirds and more than half were Muslims and Christian in rural and urban LGAs respectively. The sero-prevalence of malaria was higher among women in urban PHCs (11%) compare to women in rural PHCs (4%) with cumulative sero-prevalence of 7.5% for both LGAs, the health-seeking for women in rural area is better compare to those women in urban area. Conclusion: This study provides a better understanding of malaria in pregnancy in the study areas with a clear contrast on prevalence, health-seeking behaviour and treatment practice between the target groups two LGAs.