Socio-demographic factors, knowledge and attitude as determinants of utilization of antenatal care services among pregnant women in Gesusu hospital, Kisii county, kenya

Abstract

Pregnancy-related complications contribute to more than half of deaths among women annually. The study exploredsocio-demographic factors, knowledge and attitude as determinants of antenatal care services utilization among pregnant women in Gesusu Hospital, Kisii County, Kenya. The specific objectives were: to examine the relationship of socio-demographic factors and utilization of antenatal care services in Gesusu Hospital; to evaluate how knowledge on antenatal care among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Gesusu Hospital affects utilization of antenatal care services; and, to assess attitudes of pregnant women attending antenatal care in Gesusu Hospital concerning importance of antenatal care. The study was very significant because it provided evidence-based data for future policies designed to improve antenatal care services utilization. Cross-sectional research design was used. The study was conducted among pregnant women of reproductive age (15-49 years) attending antenatal care clinic at Gesusu Hospital. Fisher’set al. (1998) formula was used to determine the required sample size of 268 respondents. Two sampling methods were used in this study; purposive and simple random sampling. Gesusu Hospital was selected through purposive sampling because of its low ANC coverage among the seventeen health care facilities in Masaba South Sub-county of Kisii County. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents. Quantitative data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and checklist. Data was analyzed, presented and stored using SPSS version 20. Bivariate correlation and regression was done between the independent variables and the dependent variable. Presentation was done using tables and bar graphs. The mean age was 21.6 years, with a standard deviation of 0.77918. This mean age showed that most of the mothers were still in their youth. And almost a fifth of the respondents (18.3 %) were between 10-19 years, showing that under-age pregnancies were common in the study region. A quarter of the respondents (25.4 %) were single, showing that single-parenthood is common in the study region. Only 36.2 % of the respondents knew that pregnant women should attend the antenatal clinic four times and above. Almost a tenth (9.7 %) of the respondents said that the recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits were very many showing poor attitude towards ANC. After bivariate correlation and regressions, the results showed that none of the independent variables was positively associated with the dependent variable. The study concluded that: i) none of the socio-demographic factors examined was a true determinant of utilization of antenatal services; ii) general awareness on antenatal care was low; and iii) there was an attitudinal problem towards the recommended minimum of four antenatal visits. The study recommends that i) a comprehensive longitudinal study is done to help in better understanding of the role of socio-demographic factors for sufficient ANC; ii) Kenya Ministry of Health and county governments should increase the awareness of focused antenatal care among women of reproductive age, and iii) future health education interventions should be focused on improving the attitude of pregnant women towards ANC