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Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey to assess uptake of the new sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine five dose policy in Ghana.

ABSTRACT: Malaria in pregnancy poses a great risk to both mother and fetus. In Ghana, malaria accounts for 3.4% of deaths and 16.8% of all hospital admissions in pregnant women. In 2014, Ghana updated her policy on intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) to reflect the updated policy of the WHO. This study determined the level of uptake of sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) to serve as baseline for monitoring progress and also reviewed stock levels of SP, a key factor in the programme implementation.A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out among nursing mothers who had delivered within 12 weeks and were seeking postnatal care at Osu Government Maternity Home in Accra. Antenatal record books of the mothers were reviewed and data collected on number of visits and receipt of IPTp-SP. Mothers were interviewed and data collected on their background characteristics and obstetric history. Data on SP stock levels for the past 6 months were also reviewed. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine antenatal indicators on uptake of IPTp-SP using Stata version 12.The proportion of uptake of three-five doses of SP were: IPT3 (87.5%), IPT4 (55.7%) and IPT5 (14.5%). The proportion of women who received the first dose of SP at 16 weeks of gestation was 21.3%. Women who made ≥4 visits were more likely to receive ≥3 doses of SP than those who made <4 visits (AOR = 4.57, 95% CI 1.15-18.16, p < 0.05). Women receiving the first dose of SP in the third trimester were less likely to receive ≥3 doses of SP than those who received the drug in the second trimester (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.01-0.16, p < 0.05). Stock levels of SP were adequate to meet the demands by the pregnant women at the Maternity Home for the period under review.The uptake of ≥3 doses of SP was high in the study area. Frequent visits to the antenatal clinic and early uptake of the first dose of SP by pregnant women are necessary to achieve the new target of five or more doses of SP.

SUBMITTER: Owusu-Boateng I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5553599 | biostudies-other | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) is a long-acting artemisinin combination treatment that provides effective chemoprevention and has been proposed as an alternative antimalarial drug for intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy (IPTp). Several pharmacokinetic studies have shown that dose adjustment may not be needed for the treatment of malaria in pregnancy with DP. However, there are limited data on the optimal dosing for IPTp. This study aimed to evaluate the population pharmacokinetics of piperaquine given as IPTp in pregnant women. Pregnant women were enrolled in clinical trials conducted in Kenya and Indonesia and treated with standard 3-day courses of DP, administered in 4- to 8-week intervals from the second trimester until delivery. Pharmacokinetic blood samples were collected for piperaquine drug measurements before each treatment round, at the time of breakthrough symptomatic malaria, and at delivery. Piperaquine population pharmacokinetic properties were investigated using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling with a prior approach. In total, data from 366 Kenyan and 101 Indonesian women were analyzed. The pharmacokinetic properties of piperaquine were adequately described using a flexible transit absorption (n = 5) followed by a three-compartment disposition model. Gestational age did not affect the pharmacokinetic parameters of piperaquine. After three rounds of monthly IPTp, 9.45% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8 to 26.5%) of pregnant women had trough piperaquine concentrations below the suggested target concentration (10.3 ng/ml). Translational simulations suggest that providing the full treatment course of DP at monthly intervals provides sufficient protection to prevent malaria infection. Monthly administration of DP has the potential to offer optimal prevention of malaria during pregnancy. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT01669941 and in the ISRCTN under number ISRCTN34010937.).

Project description:Malaria during pregnancy results in adverse outcomes for mothers and infants. Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is the primary intervention aimed at reducing malaria infection during pregnancy. Although submicroscopic infection is common during pregnancy and at delivery, its impact throughout pregnancy on the development of placental malaria and adverse pregnancy outcomes has not been clearly established.Quantitative PCR was used to detect submicroscopic infections in pregnant women enrolled in an observational study in Blantyre, Malawi to determine their effect on maternal, foetal and placental outcomes. The ability of SP to treat and prevent submicroscopic infections was also assessed.2,681 samples from 448 women were analysed and 95 submicroscopic infections were detected in 68 women, a rate of 0.6 episodes per person-year of follow-up. Submicroscopic infections were most often detected at enrolment. The majority of women with submicroscopic infections did not have a microscopically detectable infection detected during pregnancy. Submicroscopic infection was associated with placental malaria even after controlling for microscopically detectable infection and was associated with decreased maternal haemoglobin at the time of detection. However, submicroscopic infection was not associated with adverse maternal or foetal outcomes at delivery. One-third of women with evidence of placental malaria did not have documented peripheral infection during pregnancy. SP was moderately effective in treating submicroscopic infections, but did not prevent the development of new submicroscopic infections in the month after administration.Submicroscopic malaria infection is common and occurs early in pregnancy. SP-IPT can clear some submicroscopic infections but does not prevent new infections after administration. To effectively control pregnancy-associated malaria, new interventions are required to target women prior to their first antenatal care visit and to effectively treat and prevent all malaria infections.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough IPTp-SP is a lifesaving World Health Organization (WHO) recommended preventive intervention for pregnant women in malaria-endemic regions, IPTp-SP uptake in the Northern region of Ghana is much lower than the sub-optimal national coverage level. Assessing the extent of health workers' compliance and its associated factors will generate valuable pointers to be targeted at the program level. The study examined the factors influencing health workers' compliance with the WHO recommended guidelines for IPTp-SP in the Northern Region.MethodsA cross-sectional study among 315 health workers in the Northern region was conducted. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data on health workers' sociodemographic characteristics, facility-based factors and knowledge level. Data were collected on health workers' compliance with the recommended practices through covert observations using a checklist. Facility observations were carried out using a checklist. Crude and adjusted logistic regression were used to determine predictors of health workers' compliance, at a 5% significance level adjusting for clustering.ResultsOf the 315 health workers studied, the median age was 29 years (26-34 years). Females constituted (80.5%; 252) of the 313 workers. The majority (47.4%;148) of the 312 health workers were midwives. Overall, 56.2% (CI 51.0 - 62.0) were adequately complying with the recommended guidelines. Lower levels of compliance were recorded in health centres 15.6% (5.0 - 33.0) and CHPS compounds 21.2% (11.0 - 35.0). The factors associated with compliance included health workers' knowledge (aOR = 7.64, 95% CI 4.21 - 13.87, p < 0.001), job satisfaction (aOR 10.87, 95% CI 7.04 - 16.79, p < 0.001), in-service training (aOR 10.11, 95% CI 4.53 - 22.56, p < 0.001), supervision (aOR 4.01, 95% CI 2.09 - 7.68, p < 0.001), availability of job aids (aOR 3.61, 95% CI 2.44 - 5.35, p < 0.001), health workers experience (aOR = 10.64, 95% CI 5.99 - 18.91, p < 0.001) and facility type (aOR 0.03, 95% CI 0.01-0.07, p < 0.001).ConclusionCompliance with the recommended IPTp-SP guidelines is suboptimal in the region, with lower-level health facilities recording the least compliance levels. Health centres and CHPS facilities should be prioritized in distributing limited resources to improve health worker quality of care for antenatal care clients.

Project description:Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) is associated with increased risks of maternal and foetal complications. The WHO recommends a package of interventions including intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), insecticide-treated nets and effective case management. However, with increasing SP resistance, the effectiveness of SP-IPT has been questioned. Intermittent screening and treatment (IST) has recently been shown in Ghana to be as efficacious as SP-IPT. This study investigates two important requirements for effective delivery of IST and SP-IPT: antenatal care (ANC) provider knowledge, and acceptance of the different strategies. Structured interviews with 134 ANC providers at 67 public health facilities in Ashanti Region, Ghana collected information on knowledge of the risks and preventative and curative interventions against MiP. Composite indicators of knowledge of SP-IPT, and case management of MiP were developed. Log binomial regression of predictors of provider knowledge was explored. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with fourteen ANC providers with some knowledge of IST to gain an indication of the factors influencing acceptance of the IST approach. 88.1% of providers knew all elements of the SP-IPT policy, compared to 20.1% and 41.8% who knew the treatment policy for malaria in the first or second/third trimesters, respectively. Workshop attendance was a univariate predictor of each knowledge indicator. Qualitative findings suggest preference for prevention over cure, and increased workload may be barriers to IST implementation. However, a change in strategy in the face of SP resistance is likely to be supported; health of pregnant women is a strong motivation for ANC provider practice. If IST was to be introduced as part of routine ANC activities, attention would need to be given to improving the knowledge and practices of ANC staff in relation to appropriate treatment of MiP. Health worker support for any MiP intervention delivered through ANC clinics is critical.

Project description:BackgroundAnnually, 125.2 million pregnant women worldwide risk contracting malaria, including 30.3 million and 1.5 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and Kenya respectively. At least three doses of sulphadoxine pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp-SP) is recommended for optimal benefit. Kenya recorded low IPTp-SP optimal uptake in 2015. This study investigated the prevalence of and factors influencing IPTp-SP optimal uptake in Sabatia Sub County, Western Kenya.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Sabatia Sub County from April to October 2020. Using a validated semi-structured questionnaire, data were obtained from 372 randomly sampled post-delivery women aged 15-49 years with live birth within one year preceding the study. Women on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis during pregnancy were excluded. Pearson Chi-square and Fisher's Exact test were measures of association used. Binary logistic regression analysed predictors of optimal IPTp-SP uptake.ResultsOptimal IPTp-SP uptake was 79.6%, 95% CI 75.5%-83.7%. Predictors of IPTp-SP optimization were gestational age at first antenatal care (ANC) visit (P = 0.04), frequency of ANC visits (P < 0.001), maternal knowledge of IPTp-SP benefits (P < 0.001), maternal knowledge of optimal sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) dose (P = 0.03) and SP administration at ANC clinic (P = 0.03). Late ANC initiators were less likely to receive optimal IPTp-SP (aOR = 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.9). Odds of optimizing IPTp-SP increased among women with ≥ 4 ANC visits (aOR = 16.7, 95% CI 7.9-35.3), good knowledge of IPTp-SP benefits (aOR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.5) and good knowledge of optimal SP dose (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.4). Women who never missed being administered SP were highly likely to receive optimal IPTp-SP (aOR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.1-7.2) CONCLUSIONS: This study has found high IPTp-SP optimal uptake in the study area. Efforts should be directed towards early and more frequent ANC visits. Intensive and targeted health education is required. It's fundamental to adequately stock and consistently administer SP. Future studies considering larger samples and health workers' perspectives of the health system delivery factors are recommended.

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Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey to assess uptake of the new sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine five dose policy in Ghana.

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