Utilization of Deworming Drugs and Its Individual and Community Level Predictors among Pregnant Married Women in Cameroon: A Multilevel Modeling

Abstract

Background. Although deworming pregnant women is one of the strategies to reduce parasites (roundworms and hookworms) causing anemia and related perinatal and maternal complications, utilization of deworming medication among pregnant women in Cameroon is suboptimal. Comprehensive assessment of individual, household (including women’s autonomy), and community-level factors associated with utilization of deworming medication has not been done so far. Therefore, we investigated the individual/household and community-level factors associated with deworming among pregnant married women in Cameroon. Methods. Our study was limited to pregnant women because they have a greater risk due to increased chances of anemia. We used data from the 2018/19 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey. Analysis on 5,013 pregnant married women was carried out using multilevel logistic regression. Odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were reported. Results. Our findings showed that about 29.8% of pregnant married women received deworming medications. The individual/household level predictors of deworming medications utilization identified in this study were women’s educational level, wealth quintile, and skilled antenatal care. Distance to health facility and region were identified as community-level predictors of deworming medications utilization. Higher odds of receiving deworming medication occurred among educated and wealthier pregnant married women as well as among pregnant married women who had skilled antenatal care or lived in the south region, whereas lower odds were observed among pregnant married women living in the north region. Conclusion. Access to education and economic empowerment of pregnant married women in remote areas and the north region should be the primary focus of the Cameroon government to enhance deworming coverage in the country.

Individual and community level predictors of utilization of deworming medications among pregnant women in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis

“…Also, pregnant women who had ANC had a higher likelihood of taking deworming medication than pregnant women who did not have ANC. This finding is in line with a study done in Cameroon [ 34 ]. This may be due to the fact that ANC visit creates a good opportunity to receive deworming medication and more information about benefits of deworming and positive pregnancy outcomes are gained through counseling during repeated ANC visit [ 24 ], and WHO recommended to routinely provide deworming medication during ANC visit [ 22 , 24 ], hence a women with ANC visit can easily access the medication and utilize it.…”

“…From our result the utilization of deworming among pregnant women was only 5.69% [5.24%, 6.33] which is very low which directly contributes for the high level helminthic infection among pregnant women in Ethiopia. This result is lower than a study conducted in Tanzania (60.1%) [25], Cameroon(29.8%) [34] and 23% in 49 STH endemic countries [33]. The variations across different countries might be related to factors associated with usage of deworming medication such as socioeconomic factors, difference in study settings, and difference in health care service access and utilization [5,34].…”

“…In a study by Bangret et al in 49 STH endemic countries, the average utilization of deworming was estimated to be 23% [ 33 ]. Another study in Cameroon shows only 29.8% of pregnant women receive deworming treatment during pregnancy [ 34 ].…”

Community and individual level determinants and spatial distribution of deworming among preschool age children in Ethiopia: spatial and multi-level analysis

“…In this study, women who attended primary and above primary educational status were more likely to take their child deworming medication as compared to uneducated mothers. This is in line with studies in Cameron [ 18 ], and Ghana [ 19 ] which show educated mothers were more utilizing deworming medication for their child and themselves. This is because of that, the educated mother has health advantages and better essence of health inputs such as dewormed to the health of children relative to the uneducated partners [ 19 , 38 ].…”

“…But its implementation was low [ 16 ]. Studies showed that factors such as; maternal media exposure status [ 1 , 12 , 16 , 17 ], maternal control of household healthcare decisions [ 16 ], child vitamin-A supplementation [ 16 ], having a history of diarrheal disease [ 16 ], maternal and paternal education [ 16 , 18 , 19 ], and child age [ 12 ] were significant predictors of deworming supplements.…”