Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Of Women Regarding PMTCT Of HIV/AIDs In Mpigi Health Center (1V) Antenatal Clinic, Mpigi- Central Uganda
Abstract
Background
Worldwide, an estimated 3.4 million children below 15 years of age are infected, 90% of
whom live in the sub- Saharan Africa. About 150,000 of them live in Uganda. 95% of all
pediatric HIV infections in this region result from mother to child transmission which occurs
during pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding. But still this can be achieved through taking
actions of preventing it from occurring from mother to child. Prevention of mother to child
transmission can significally reduce the risk of MTCT. For this to be efficient pregnant
mothers need to know about MTCT and PMTCT. This study sought to explore the
knowledge, attitude and practices of pregnant women in Mpigi central Uganda regarding
MTCT and its prevention to determine if the current strategy to help women gain this
knowledge is working.
Methods
The study was carried out at Mpigi Health Centre (IV). The participants included all pregnant
women attending Antenatal clinic at the Health Centre from Monday to Friday and those who
accepted to take part in the research. The study used an exploratory descriptive study design
and involved 142 participants. Participants were selected using simple random sampling
methods. A self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed
using SPSS, and presented in form of frequency tables, graphs and pie- charts.
Results
The study revealed that; majority of the respondents 70.4% were aware of MTCT and 29.6%
knew nothing and only 67.6% knew how it could be prevented. Regarding adequacy of
knowledge most of the mothers had moderate knowledge and few had high knowledge.
Majority of the pregnant women had positive attitude towards PMTCT intervention. The
most identified source of information was Health workers and Mass media.
Conclusions
Majority of the pregnant women at Mpigi Health Centre (IV) lacked adequate knowledge to
prevent MTCT despite high awareness of MTCT there is need for PMTCT interventions.
Collections
- Bachelors in Nursing [415]