Uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy Among Antenatal Care Attendees in General Hospital, Oju. Benue State

Uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy Among Antenatal Care Attendees in General Hospital, Oju. Benue State | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy Among Antenatal Care Attendees in General Hospital, Oju. Benue State Sunday Emmanuel Oche Sunday This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656644/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Malaria in pregnancy poses a substantial public health burden in Nigeria, contributing significantly to maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPTp) among pregnant women in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional design involving 80 pregnant women selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings revealed that majority of respondents demonstrated adequate knowledge of IPTp ( x̄ -3.4); including its importance, timing, and WHO-recommended dosage of three or more doses. Attitudes toward IPTp were generally positive, with majority of respondents expressing willingness to adhere to recommended practices ( x̄ -2.7). However, uptake was suboptimal, as majority of respondents reported receiving at least three doses of IPTp under Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) during their current pregnancy ( x̄ -2.0), falling short of the WHO target of 80% coverage. Identified barriers included shortages of healthcare providers ( x̄ -1.6);insufficient education on IPTp ( x̄ -2.1);financial constraints ( x̄ -2.1);and lack of male partner involvement ( x̄ -2.1). The study underscores the need for targeted health education campaigns, improved drug availability, enhanced healthcare provider capacity, and community-based interventions to address these challenges. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7656644","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":519949915,"identity":"f60f3306-077b-40b8-bcfd-ab859f1a7f7f","order_by":0,"name":"Sunday Emmanuel Oche Sunday","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCA2AygYeBgRnElJAhRQtbAkgLD9FagJjHAMQirIXv9uGjm262pcmY86/5/OpGjQUPA/vhoxvwaZE8l5Z2O7cth8dyxttt1jnHgA7jSUu7gU+LwRkeM6CWCh6DG2e3GeewAbVI8JgR0ML/DarlzDPjnH9EaeFhAzvM4HwP8+PcNiK0SJ5hM7udcy4NaAubGXNunwQPGyG/8J1hfnY7pyzZ3uD84cefc77VyfGzHz6GVwsYMLIBCYkENgkQh42gcjD4A8T8B5g/EKd6FIyCUTAKRhoAAOsiTBIAgCa4AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Benue State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sunday","middleName":"Emmanuel Oche","lastName":"Sunday","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-19 09:08:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656644/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656644/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92251490,"identity":"e1d2ad17-6e75-4ddc-8330-faa761f08fec","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-26 10:42:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":692319,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"UptakeofIPTpPublication.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7656644/v1_covered_95655876-aa1c-4c67-9a15-4490145e4a29.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eUptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy Among Antenatal Care Attendees in General Hospital, Oju. Benue State\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656644/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656644/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMalaria in pregnancy poses a substantial public health burden in Nigeria, contributing significantly to maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPTp) among pregnant women in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional design involving 80 pregnant women selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings revealed that majority of respondents demonstrated adequate knowledge of IPTp (\u003c/em\u003ex̄\u003cem\u003e-3.4); including its importance, timing, and WHO-recommended dosage of three or more doses. Attitudes toward IPTp were generally positive, with majority of respondents expressing willingness to adhere to recommended practices (\u003c/em\u003ex̄\u003cem\u003e-2.7). 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