Enhancing Utilization of PMTCT Services: Investigating Knowledge Factors Among Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers at Kiryandongo General Hospital, Western Uganda

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the utilization of PMTCT services among mothers attending the ART clinic at Kiryandongo General Hospital. This was a facility-based cross-sectional which recruited a total of 185 pregnant and lactating mothers attending Kiryandongo Hospital. STATA software version 14.0 was used for data analysis. To identify factors affecting utilization of PMTCT services, univariate analysis and modified Poisson regression run and crude prevalence ratios with 95% confidence interval were used to determine the level of significance at bivariate meanwhile adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated at multivariate analysis to establish independent significant factors. The mean age of the study participants was 25.6 with a standard deviation of 6. Results showed that the mean score on knowledge was 5.21 with a standard deviation of 1.36. The median score was 5 with an interquartile range of 4 to 6. The majority of 59.46% (110/185) of the study participants had inadequate knowledge of PMTCT meanwhile less than of the study participants 40.54% (75/185) had adequate knowledge. The factors independently affecting utilization of PMTCT services were; Unemployment (aPR 4.05, 95%CI 2.19-7.50, P<0.001), Rude and harsh attitude of health workers (aPR 2.17, 95%CI 1.38-3.44, P=0.001). Unsatisfactory services (Apr 2.40, 95%CI 1.22-4.74, P=0.011). The study has shown that there are more than half of the pregnant women and lactating mothers attending Kiryandongo Hospital have inadequate knowledge of PMTCT services. The proportion of mothers found with adequate knowledge of PMTCT in the present study is low compared to most studies done in Africa. At Kiryandongo Hospital, the utilization of PMTCT services among pregnant and lactating mothers was found to be slightly high. Employment status was the only socio-demographic factor affecting the utilization of PMTCT services meanwhile Rude and harsh attitudes of health workers and unsatisfactory services were the health facility-related factors affecting the utilization of PMTCT services. Keywords: HIV, PMTCT services, Children, Pregnant mothers, Lactating mothers.