Antenatal visits are positively associated with uptake of tetanus toxoid and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy in Ivory Coast.

BACKGROUND

Malaria and tetanus infections among pregnant women represent two major public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Optimum use of Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) and immunization against tetanus among pregnant women during antenatal care (ANC) visits are recommended strategies to prevent these issues. Despite these recommendations, many women in Africa remain deprived of these cost-effective and life-saving interventions. In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of women using these two services, and the association between women's uptake of IPTp-SP and tetanus toxoid (TT) with antenatal care use in Ivory Coast.

METHODS

This study was based on the fifth round of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 5) conducted in Ivory Coast in 2016. Participants were 9583 women aged between 15 and 49 years. Outcomes were TT and Intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP). Data analysis was conducted using bivariate and multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS

In this study, the prevalence of taking TT immunization and IPTp-SP drugs was 81.97 and 17.83% respectively. Of the participants who took these drugs at all, the prevalence of taking adequate doses of TT immunization was 78.75% and that of IPTp-SP was 35.46%. In the multivariable analysis model, higher age groups, 25-29 years (OR = 2.028, 95%CI = 1.120-3.669) were found to be positively associated with uptake of adequate doses of IPTp-SP drugs. Women who attended at least four ANC visits had higher odds of taking IPTp-SP drugs (OR = 1.656, 95%CI = 1.194-2.299) and TT immunization (OR = 2.347, 95%CI = 1.384-3.981), and also had higher odds of receiving adequate doses of IPTp-SP drugs (OR = 3.291, 95%CI = 2.157-5.020) and that of TT immunization (OR = 1.968, 95%CI = 1.398-2.771). The odds of taking IPTp-SP drugs were significantly higher among women with primary (OR = 2.504, 95%CI = 1.020-6.146) and secondary/higher education (OR = 3.298, 95%CI = 1.343-8.097) compared to those with no education. Also, women with higher parity had lower odds of taking TT immunization (OR = 0.218, 95%CI = 0.055-0.858) compared to those with lower parity. Findings from this study also revealed that the odds of taking adequate doses of IPTp-SP drugs were significantly lower among participants from Mandé du Nord ethnicity (OR = 0.378,95%CI = 0.145-0.983) compared to those from other ethnicities.

CONCLUSION

In this study, uptake of IPTp-SP drugs was much lower than TT immunization. High number of ANC visits were found to be significantly associated with taking IPTp-SP drugs and TT immunization and also with that of taking them in adequate doses. Vaccination promotion is necessary to protect pregnant women and reduce adverse health outcomes among the newborn in Ivory Coast.